Need YOUR opinion, career-related question.

[DFA]

Little update:

I went to the embassy and took the test. Up until yesterday morning before that test, I only knew the scholarship was to study engineering in Colorado. After taking the test with a couple people that only talked about armies, navies, salutations, formalities and ranks, and being led inside the embassy by some army division guy, I investigated what college were the scholarships for... and my search brought me to the awareness that I was signing up for the United States Air Force Academy.
I want to study to be a great engineer, don't get me wrong, but I don't need a 5 mile long run and 100 push-ups at 4am every morning to get to that. Plus I'd have to serve in the army for like 2 years. I respect the people who do that but it's just not my cup of tea.

I mean.. great but, no thanks.

Gene, I thank you greatly for your words of wisdom. You have given me a truckload of food for thought. Imaginary Engineering... ! Exactly the reason I've always refused to take that up, I don't even agree it should be classified as engineering.. but that's a whole another issue and I don't want to go deep into it.

Thanks alot to all of you for your words!

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by DFA

Little update:

I went to the embassy and took the test. Up until yesterday morning before that test, I only knew the scholarship was to study engineering in Colorado. After taking the test with a couple people that only talked about armies, navies, salutations, formalities and ranks, and being led inside the embassy by some army division guy, I investigated what college were the scholarships for... and my search brought me to the awareness that I was signing up for the United States Air Force Academy.
I want to study to be a great engineer, don't get me wrong, but I don't need a 5 mile long run and 100 push-ups at 4am every morning to get to that. Plus I'd have to serve in the army for like 2 years. I respect the people who do that but it's just not my cup of tea.

I mean.. great but, no thanks.

Gene, I thank you greatly for your words of wisdom. You have given me a truckload of food for thought. Imaginary Engineering... ! Exactly the reason I've always refused to take that up, I don't even agree it should be classified as engineering.. but that's a whole another issue and I don't want to go deep into it.

Thanks alot to all of you for your words!

You'd be a US Citizen once you served your hitch. I don't know if you'd want that or not, as Panama offers some great business connections. I am not sure if you'd be able to retain dual citizenship. I know if I were offered a shot at schooling at an earlier age in someone else's military I'd have doubts too.

You would get your engineering degree, no doubt and you'd get top notch experience too.

I am glad I could help you. As far as IE, I work with some of those guys. They're coming into their own now but still don't SEEM TO HAVE the deep level of theory that more specialized engineers get.

One great prospect is Manufacturing Engineering. They get exposed to tons of theory and practice about making things, organizing work flows, management and other stuff. They are a highly marketable field. You might want to see if you can get such training. I work with two guys in our 6S group at work who have degrees from reputable universities in Manufacturing Engineering. They manage day to day operations, keep stuff moving and supervise the 6S group.

We've accomplished a lot of stuff with them, and have a lot farther to go.

Gene