Cadet Talk

Below is the text of a talk I gave to Squadron 16 cadets at Texas A&M last week.

Howdy! 

Thank you all for having me here for a training time. It’s weird for me to be up here, giving this talk. We had a few of these back when I was in school and always thought it would be fun to come back and do this, so thanks for having me. 

Hopefully I can use this time to impart some wisdom I’ve learned the past few years on to you all. You’ll notice I’m not grizzled yet, but it’s been 11 years since I stepped foot on to the quad for FOW, and I hope I’ve learned some things along the way. 

I’ve been thinking about what to say to y’all for a few days now, what would be the most helpful, where do I have the most experience, how can I make the biggest impact on the widest number of you? 

So I’ve got a few different themes. One, I’d like to talk about the difference between military and civilian life. From what I’ve seen first hand between me and my buddy class. 

Second, I’d like to talk about professional life. I’ve gotten married, and my wife and I have been more or less heads down on a career focused path the last few years, moving from Texas to Florida to Nebraska to New Mexico.

And third, I’ll implore you to make the most of your time here. Zips, you’re in your final year - it will fly by. Fish, likewise. It will fly by. Life always seems to accelerate. Each year of my life feels shorter than the last. 

So first - I know some of you must have Air Force contracts already. Some of you are here just because you want to be and will go on to be civilians, and some of you are undecided. I was in that camp. I stayed on the fence past my sophomore year, watched my friends go to field training, became depressed that summer not knowing what I wanted to do and finally made up my mind I was going to pursue the military. Not choosing, is still a choice after all. The figs will eventually rot and fall. So, I came back, had high scores on my AFOQT, started doing lead lab again, which sucked, and started ticking off check boxes. I put in for a pilot slot, and got sent to the optometrist, and was told my eye sight wasn’t good enough. Devastating. Cried about it. Sat for the next few days in class wondering what I could do in the Air Force aside from be a pilot - that’s what I had cared about, what I had chosen to care about. Then a few weeks later, my dodmerb results came back in and given my history of childhood asthma and an allergy to peanuts, they disqualified me entirely. 

A few points here - maybe I didn’t pay attention to the instruction given, but I really had no idea what kind of Air Force career I could have outside of pilot. Maybe I just didn’t care enough at the time so as not to retain anything I heard. So what I’d first say is if you’re on the fence - look into what you might actually want to do - what career options in the Air Force speak to you. Talk to the bulls. Open up about your interests. I was, admittedly, kind of scared of them - but they’re just people and they’re here to teach you yes, but they’re also here to help you navigate these decisions. 

And Don’t just talk to the bulls, talk to anyone - professors parents mentors, each other, former falcons. People are happy to offer advice. You’ll notice this doesn’t just apply to those of you going into the military. 

Now, some first hand experience, what I’ve seen from two of my closest buddies - probably a pretty good dichotomy of how the Air Force can go. Both civil engineering majors. One was taking engineering just to have a better chance at getting a pilot slot. He failed calculus 2 or 3 times and got through by the skin of his teeth. Not that grades are the only thing that matters - he was an RV, CO his zip year, etc. 

The other, great student - wanted to do civil engineering in the Air Force. Met his wife at field training, her father was a civil engineer in the Air Force - he had a great network and great mentors. Planned like the entire FTX for the whole wing - afrotc leadership knew him well. 

Finally got their assignments. Pilot buddy got a pilot slot - was going to ENJJPT to train. Pretty local up in Wichita Falls, his family from Dallas area. Took a FAIP assignment, stayed there and all but got to choose his fighter as the F35. Training now in phoenix and going to England for his first real assignment in the spring. Going as perfectly as it could be. Now, Civil engineer - he instead got acquisitions in Oklahoma City. All but killed his ambition, doesn’t care about the Air Force anymore - it’s just a job to him. Then the Air Force deployed his wife to Qatar for 6 months. They’re doing fine, but neither will make a career out of the military. Both on captains salaries now, making good money and it’s frankly a good problem to have. But it’s just been hard - harder than it could have been anyway. But that’s what you sign up for - uncertainty. 

So - just a little taste of how things can work out when you agree to let the military determine your path. 

Now, a little taste of the civilian life after college. I had a hard time finding a job during my senior year. I had an internship working for a commodities trading research startup in my home town, by a fluke that my dad knew the founder. So I had one piece of real work experience under my belt. I was taking physics, where the department couldn’t care less if you wanted to do something other than get a PHD. Engineering career fair companies were mostly not interested in me. 

Quick aside - go to the career fairs. AF contract, no contract, go. Get experience talking to recruiters. Practice networking - networking isn’t getting someone’s business card. Get to know people in a professional setting. Speaking of, learning to introduce yourself is one of the best things the corps taught me. Whip out. 

Okay, back to my sob story. 

Finally I got a job offer from a research lab at university of Texas doing Navy research of some sort. It was one of the only booths at the career fair that explicitly said they were looking for physics majors, and I guess I had talked to them a few times over the years and they recognized me and my interest. It was really my only job offer and I took it, moved to Austin. Started work, and knew the first week that I didn’t want to be there. Research lab, 1980s architecture, introverts everywhere, the group I was in was horrible, I had no mentorship, no idea of what I wanted to do that would be better. Took me two years to quit. Oh, and covid happened then, so if I thought I was isolated before…. It only got worse. 

Then I basically quit on a whim - a friend from college had started a software company and I started doing some part time work for him just to get some more experience, and he eventually hired me half time. I decided to go back to school for a masters degree, and after one semester, decided to just go work for this guy full time - on what turned out to be a failing product. I convinced him we had to pivot to contract work just to keep earning money. Which is basically saying “we need to go find jobs” but it’s harder because it’s got to be contracts we can run through the company and neither of us have much work experience to convince anyone to hire us. So I got married that summer with no money and no prospects. Wife had a job lined up in Florida, so we moved out there and after a few months this other guy and I had both finally found some work. 

Being an entrepreneur was a real identity I had put on. By the time I left the company, I had pulled in 5 of the 6 active contracts we had closed, each more exciting than the last. I had built a hiring pipeline from scratch - knowing nothing about HR, where to find talent, how to hire people - we hired 3 engineers and had just hired a 4th as a contractor. It was exciting, motivating, I felt on top of the world with each new growth and we were on track to pull in over $1M in revenue for that second year. 

Things were looking up until this guy I was working with wanted to grow faster than I knew we were able. Then, over the span of a week, he turned sour on me. Made up a reason to fire me, and clawed back the equity I had in the company which was about 8% - devalued it into oblivion. Basically like the social network. 

So that whole thing was a mess, and I’ve had similar tech consulting type jobs since then. Can’t shake the entrepreneurial itch. And, after 7.5 years since graduating, still don’t know where I want to take my career. 

What have I learned from all that? Private civilian life is freedom - nobody can tell you where to move or what job to have. But then, too many options is paralyzing. First jobs are almost always rough even if you know for a fact what you want to do. Layoffs happen to the best of us. You may have to move somewhere you don’t want to, just to find employment. And if you’re lucky enough and put in the effort to find employment where you want, in the locale that you choose, it’s still work. Know that nothing in work will satisfy you in life as much as the love of your friends and family. 

Now, some quick advice on work life that has served me well. You will likely start off being paid as a fresh graduate. That doesn’t mean you have to act like it. I’m still the young guy in the office so to speak. Once you get your bearings and you figure the job out - 3-6 months or so, you don’t have to be in a leadership position to lead. You guys are training to be leaders regardless of your formal position. Lead your meetings, be prepared. Know the subject matter. Have ideas for improvement. Think. Be vocal - your boss is just a person. Be kind, navigate the relationships and politics at your work, don’t step on others; bring them along with you. People will notice and some will even tell you - where did you come from? Where did you work before? How do you command a room like you do? You’re learning a lot more on the quad than you realize, cadets.  

The confidence you exude will be noticed. Be an active participant in your place of work. You’ll learn faster and you’ll enjoy the work more. You have to be competent of course, and that will come with effort. (And you’ll find people older than you, who get paid way more than you, have no idea what they’re doing) What do you learn here? This whole experience, military contract or not, is a leadership laboratory. This whole quad, is a playground to try things. Fish, learn to follow. You know which upperclassmen you look up to. Emulate them. You’ll learn which leadership decisions piss you off. Learn from those. 

This brings us to my last point - be present here at Texas A&M. There’s so much news out there about the value of the college degree plummeting - grade washing at top Ivy leagues, Zoom degrees meaning less to employers than before 2020, AI doing increasingly cerebral work taking white collar jobs - college educated jobs, university students increasingly feeling isolated, anxious and depressed. For you here, cadets at Texas A&M - I don’t believe your degree is worthless. I believe it’s worth what you make it. 

Many of your classmates, your non reg classmates, will skip class, play video games all day, scrape by in an easy degree, and buy their ring and walk across the stage at graduation - and obtain the credential. They still obtain the credential. Is their college experience worth anything? Did they earn it? Do they know why they even spent the time to do it? 

No, the piece of paper, the aggie ring, do not have inherent worth. What you learn here, what you take from here, that’s the worth. Your classes will teach you some - I’d say 30-50% of what you learn in college is from your classes. Non-negligible to be sure - you should pay attention, even in the classes that you hate and must take just for your degree plan. You might accidentally learn something interesting. But don’t let school get in the way of a good education. You’re here, away from your family and friends from your hometowns. Fish you can learn to follow - pissheads you will learn to care for the fish, in your most loving pisshead way. Try on different personas. Get off the quad - meet the nonregs. Date. Develop your prefrontal cortex. Get involved in extracurriculars not to pad your resume, but because it’s something that interests you. Pull some pranks. 

Show up for each other - learn how to be a good friend. Watch others, see how they’re doing it. Copy what you like, learn from others’ mistakes. Cherish this time - this 4 years, or this last one for you zips. Be present, put out. You’re going to be up early in the morning working out anyway? Might as well not just get through it, but get a real workout out of it! You’re going to practice marching? Be the best on the quad. 

You’re stuck with that one buddy who annoys the hell out of you? Learn to be patient, to work well with people who are different from you. Learn to appreciate them and even come to love them. 

Life has changed dramatically for you all since arriving here, and it will change dramatically when you leave. Not necessarily for better or for worse, but it’s just life. Cherish that your best friends are across the hall from you. Duncan breakfasts are overpriced and the eggs powdered? So what? You get to eat with your friends every day. You’re stressed about that exam? It will come, and it will be behind you. This too, shall pass. 

Finally, however you have come to be here, from whatever background - maybe it’s the military paying your way, maybe your parents, maybe your future self - maybe you come from a family of privilege or as an immigrant from Honduras like my old lady, from a rough childhood or one with helicopter parents - however you come here, your upbringing is not your fault. 

What you do now, what you do today and how you go forward in life - that is YOUR responsibility. Choose every day to bear that responsibility, to take up your cross so to speak, voluntarily, to do it for your family back home and for the people who can’t or won’t. That responsibility is not easy, and it may not be simple, but it’s the adventure of your life. 

fish, you are the future of Texas A&M. And you are all the future of Texas, the future of the military, and the future of our great nation. 

With any luck, you will look back on this time in your life with nothing but admiration, pride, appreciation and some melancholy for a season of life now passed. 

Thanks, and gig em!