Leaving West Point

I'm going to sleep on my decision for a week or so and really think about what I want. It's not something I can deal with lightly and it will need a lot of thought. However, I made the decision to come here too early and never took time to consider what I wanted without outside pressure. I don't regret the time I've spent here because I have truly learned a lot, but I need to take my life into my own hands and figure out what it is I really want to accomplish.

As far as moral objections, I don't agree with much of what the military has been doing since WWII. There have been times where we do things to truly help others, but whether it be to spread political ideology or for natural resources, the military seems to be doing a good job at often sending people where they don't truly belong. People have tried to conquer Afghanistan for thousands of years, there is no reason all of a sudden we will be able to. On top of that, the way we demoralize the enemy is wrong to me. I lived in the Middle East when I was younger for a couple years, and I had a perspective of what life and people are really like. They aren't so much different than us, and it's the extremists who paint a bad picture. Shooting at Taliban shaped targets and chanting racist cadences to me seemed very disrespectful considering that it was about a group of people I was once good friends with playing soccer in the streets. In addition, the individual liberties that soldiers sacrifice for being part of the institution essentially turn them into second class citizens. There are no other institutions where someones personal liberties can be stripped away and it's okay and nobody questions it. Walmart can't just say "sign a 5 year contract where you are not allowed to leave, and we will put you in prison if you do this and this." I highly respect the virtues of West Point and the Army Values I think they are fantastic, but my very liberal point of view is conflicting with being in the military. If you don't agree, that's okay! I will gladly take anyone's point of view and respect it.

I have the drive to do whatever I want to do in life. This, however hard it may be to leave, is not what I want.

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