# I can, I must, I shall... simple as that.



## 7thghoul (30 Jul 2017)

Just thought it might be cathartic to write about my recruiting process so far and a bit of background about me as an individual. Thanks for reading in advance.

I am a Vancouverite born and raised, since a young age I had always been enthralled by the military and committed to joining back in high school. Due to a congenital vision condition (astigmatism) and discovering after high school that I had a 30 degree twist in my spine mid-back my dreams were dashed, I had thought that I stood no chance of passing medical with these issues. It didn't help that my mother would consistently reinforce the fact that she felt I would be instantly disqualified, as an adult I have come to realize she is not the authority on the world which she claims to be, still love her though. Sidebar, in high school I was a bit rowdy and smoked my fair share of marijuana and drank my fair share of alcohol, also later tried mushrooms twice but this will come up later (I.E. I was pretty stupid but gotta be better not bitter). 

Around June this year I was hanging out with my friend, a reservist who had just transferred to RegF and was having a going away thing before he left to his posting. Just shooting the crap and so forth:

me: Man that's so awesome. Wish I could join, god damn this dysfunctional meat suit I was born into
him: What's wrong with you man? 
me: eyesight and scoliosis
him: shit is that it? I know officers with coke bottle glasses and one of my platoon mates has scoliosis, you'll never know if you don't apply.
me: haha yeah... no shit eh?

Less than a day later I was trolling forces.ca and looking at trades. Having a stiff whiskey in my hand I decided screw it, I've wanted this for as long as I can remember. Apply late June for ACISS, v-tech, and Infantry (applied on a friday). By Monday my local CFRC had scheduled me a CFAT test 3 weeks away. I was ecstatic. I began to brush up on my math and such as I hadn't really used it much 7 years out of high school (thanks calculators). 

Went in to my CFAT on the 18th, was super nervous but felt more confident once I was actually doing the test. After all was said and done we got pulled in to speak one on one with a MCC. He said my test went fine but that I'd have to wait until May 1st 2018 to re-open my file due to recent drug use (Marijuana, May 2017). I feel stupid as hell honestly, probably should have waited longer before even applying having toked in May at a party. 

Honestly I'm still pretty nervous about my upcoming medical when I can finally re-open my file, and a little disheartened that I was given a hold of almost a year but it is what it is. At least I can say that I am trying and all I can do is hope for the best when I finally do get to return next spring. 

If any young people are reading this I just wanted to say directly to all of you that early on you should avoid as much as is possible the incredible urge to go with the flow of your friends and peers early on. Having been discouraged from joining in my teens by my mom, I began to care less about things and began to smoke pot and drink because I would just be a civilian forever so what did it matter. All I wanted to do out of high school was join and thinking this was impossible I became distracted and apathetic. Now years later having learned that I have a chance I wish I could go back to my 16 year old self and give him a good smack upside the head. 

That being said, I have no real regrets. I'm about to graduate university with a Bachelors of Communications in Business with a 3.5 gpa. I have a wonderful common-law spouse who has always been supportive and continues to do so with the revelation of my possible recruitment. My Grandfather, a former Supreme Court of BC justice and lawyer, and former Engineering Officer aboard HMCS Prince Robert, taught me that meeting challenges is the path to happiness. Despite the obstacles that my own poor judgement and apathy may have laid before me now I only have more challenges to meet and more pride to feel should I succeed... and I will, because I can. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I'm sure it's not that exciting, but it felt good to get it out in full.


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## BeyondTheNow (31 Jul 2017)

If it's something you're very serious about, you did the right thing by applying to see how it goes. Every applicant's file is individual--they're all case-by-case. Just because '...so-and-so got in with this...' or '...so-and-so *didn't* get in because of that...' doesn't mean the same outcome(s) will be applied to others.  There are many factors which contribute to a person's success or not when going through the recruitment process.

Good luck going forward!


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## 7thghoul (31 Jul 2017)

BeyondTheNow said:
			
		

> If it's something you're very serious about, you did the right thing by applying to see how it goes. Every applicant's file is individual--they're all case-by-case. Just because '...so-and-so got in with this...' or '...so-and-so *didn't* get in because of that...' doesn't mean the same outcome(s) will be applied to others.  There are many factors which contribute to a person's success or not when going through the recruitment process.
> 
> Good luck going forward!



Thanks Beyond. I'm looking forward to it.


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## mariomike (31 Jul 2017)

To echo what BeyondTheNow said, Good luck!


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## 7thghoul (31 Jul 2017)

you're guys encouragement means a lot. Thank you!


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