Posted on January 1, 2019
What to do with my GI Bill?
In 2011, I thought I was finished with college. I had been a full-time student since 2006 and completed an Associate’s in Electronics Technology, a Bachelor’s in IT, and a Master’s in Business with and emphasis in Information Assurance. At thins point I had barely used 1/3 of my G.I. Bill and had paid tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket.
When one exits military service, any remaining benefit of the G.I. Bill has an expiration date. If not used by this time, it evaporates into thin air; my date was approaching.
When I joined the service, I qualified and opted for advanced training in computer and electronics, which carried a requirement an obligation for additional time served as the training involved was nearly two years long. This brought on a choice between two incentives once the training was successfully completed; $15,000 cash bonus or an additional financial contribution toward college endeavors when using the G.I. Bill. Being a glassy-eyed 17-year-old with sights on world conquer, I opted for the money for college.
Now that I am approaching forty, working full time, fathering two teenagers, and working a plethora of side projects, I did the only irrational thing… I signed up for an Associate’s degree program. Why not?
I chose something different, but fun… Firearms Technology. I enrolled in the program offered through Sonoran Desert Institute (SDI), which when using the G.I. Bill is fully covered. I am very excited about the offerings and the new skills I will acquire. It can be expected that I will post content related to my studies to this site. With my previous college activities, all of the general education has been satisfied, so it is degree specific for me only!
I start class later this month and will graduate (based on the class schedule) in April of 2020. I will have about 8 months of G.I. Bill left at that point, so there is no telling what I will do next.