I wrote previously about Steve Bogucki (Educated Soldier) and his Law School vs. Special Forces quandary. He recently wrote a powerful post about his decision to quit (his term) Special Forces training and to continue with his higher education goals. He explains his thoughts on the topic and his reasoning, all of which are interesting and make sense.

It’s no small thing to decide to just drop such a major chunk of your life. I quit school three years into my second degree because I finally saw what my intense academic focus was doing to my family, my daughter especially. Like Steve, the actual realization and the subsequent decision-making moment went fairly quickly. But even though I could see how necessary it was for me to quit, it still sucked. It’s hard to just stop.

It’s dangerously easy to stay on a path, whether you’re happy to be there or not, simply because you’ve wanted it for so long and have invested so much time, effort and emotional energy into that goal. Walking away from something tremendous is usually more difficult than staying the course. I’m very impressed with Mr. Bogucki’s decision and the ballsiness it took for him to quit. And he sounds happy. Effing busy with school, but happy.

Posted by Alexa Harrington

photo: Jeff Sullivan

There are several points in every person’s life in which a major, life-changing decision must be made. I myself have never had to decide whether to work toward my Special Forces qualification or to go to law school, but I’ve always wondered how that thought process would go…My major life decisions were more along the lines of which order to do grad school, career and motherhood.

Steve Bogucki at Educated Soldier has a post up in which he works through his Special Forces vs. law school quandary. It’s very interesting, as is his blog. I think he and I are probably at opposite ends of the political spectrum, but that doesn’t mean I can’t respect him as a dedicated soldier and as an intelligent student. Also, his Mom pointed me in the direction of his blog, and he refers to her as his ‘confidante’, so he can’t be all bad.

Posted by Alexa Harrington