Ralph Blaser:  

duating. Wasn't sure there for a while I was going to. Having ditched and ignored P.E. for my freshman year I had to double up in my senior year and take twice as many as required. I think I still had to have one or two waived. Damn, I was in good shape that year! College Higher learning was definately a challenge. Unforunately I blew a lot of time/chances by having unrealistic expectations about life and how it should be. Consequently school suffered and it was suggested to me (on more than one occassion) that I might be better off elsewhere. A nice way to say, "You're outta here!" Joined the Navy and did my four years. Then I went back to school with a vengence! Wow, was it easy when you have other things to compare it to. Finished up an AA at Fresno City but moved out of the area while attending CSU Fresno. Now I am at a different job but still far away from a learning institution. It would have been a lot easier and cheaper to get it done in the first place. Military I spent four years in the Navy. It would have been nice to know that I would get violently sea-sick before I joined. With the aid of modern medicine I made it through. I was onboard a Knox class frigate that had the nickname 'Roughrider". More than once we were plowing through and under the waves instead of riding over them. A tough way to go but easier than having people shooting at you. Spent most of our time as a reservist training ship so we didn't go many places. Did see Korea, Phillipines, Canada, Mexico, Hawaii, but when you are a drunken sailor do you really see everything? Do you really remember everything you saw? Got a chance to use the G.I. Bill and other things to make improvments in my life so I would recommend it to most people, depending on the circumstances of course. I met a lot of nice people. I met a few a-holes too. The best thing it showed me was that I had the ability to work and do well in a stressful environment.