What should I do? I just graduated high school and left the military in three months time. What should i do?

Question

I graduated high school in May. Earned two decent awards- 12th Grade English, and was entered into "Who's Who," the group consists of a few hundred of the top high school students in the nation. I joined the Army in July, and received a general discharge in August. I would like to attend college, but more importantly I need a steady job at this time. My mother passed away when I was 6. My father is in the hospital with advanced liver cancer, receiving blood transfusions every other day. I barely have anywhere to stay, but I do have a couple hundred dollars in my pocket. I am very pliable and ready to learn how to weave baskets, stock warehouses, or work in an office. I just need to find a way to start my life; anything would be okay at this point. I keep applying, but nothing seems to come through. If you were in my situation, you would...?

Answer 1

Go look at a temp agency.  Maybe list with several.  Some of them do just temp jobs, but some do "rent to hire" jobs which can turn into permanent jobs. You need to get a track record with an employer and this will do it.  You will need to be ready to explain the general discharge.

Answer 2

Wow.  That is a tough question.  

If you are close to your father and want to be able to be with him during this stage of his life you will need to stick close to the hospital.  Even if you are not close to him, it might still be important to invest the time since it is something you can never go back and change.

Most colleges have work-study programs and you may qualify for grant funding.  If you have not yet completed the application for financial aid, here is the link: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/  

Do you have someone you can stay with for now until you get things figured out?  If not, consider asking at the hospital if they have a social services adviser who could point you in the right direction.

As for finding your place in life, what are you interested in?  What are you good at?  Depending on your locale (I am guessing you are in the U.S.) there should be a workforce center in the area and they can give you career guidance and testing to see what your skills and interests are.  Here is the national workforce link: http://www.wtb.wa.gov/Info_Students.asp

I was at a point where I wondered what I was going to do with my life and seriously considered the AmeriCorps.  http://www.americorps.org/for_individual...  It was not to be my path, but may be something for you to consider.  There are thousands of opportunities with different details, so do check out the site.

Hope these suggestions help!  Stay strong.