lou-reed said:
First, everyone makes mistakes. Judging by your age, it would appear that you made some youthful mistakes, using very bad judgement, that came with very serious consequences. You are now paying dearest for those mistakes.
I was 18 and 2 months...
lou-reed said:
On the surface it appears that you have done a good job of turning your life around and making the improvements necessary for you to get where you want to be in life. I say on the surface because we (being the readers of this post) have no idea about your past before you were caught in your misdeeds. My point being is this a one-time offence or was it a culmunation of several years of this behaviour. Do you still associate with those who were part of your past. Just a lot of questions that you may have to answer. When I read your first post, those were the questions that I had for you. I have those questions because part of turning your life around is more than just going back to school. It also takes time and you have to gain trust and that can take a long time.
These are good questions. Before making that mistake, I used to be a good person, well performing at school and in sports (I was in a rugby sport/study program). It really is a one time offense. It was not the culmination of previous similar behaviors but the culmination of many factors at the same time. I could not give a single factor as an explanation as it was the result of a more complex system of factors. The result caused myself to commit a criminal offense although I always had repugnance toward those kind of behaviors. The worst consequences, in my case, were not the prison, the probing period or the fines, but the fact that I have done one of the things I most disapprove, and that I have lost the society's trust for that.
lou-reed said:
Although I never worked in recruiting, I do believe that there is immense competition for recruits for both the NCM and Officer side.
I think there's a lot of competition too.
lou-reed said:
Thus, although you may have turned your life around, and you may be able to show the officer board that you have done so, you may just not be competitive enough. Unfortunately, that may just be the reality of this situation.
If I succeed to show the officer board that I am trustworthy, I am pretty sure I can be competitve enough. And if I am not, there's probably something I can improve to be more competitive. But my criminal record would for sure cause my merit mark to be lower, but how much lower? It can end, as you said, causing me to not be competitive enough...
lou-reed said:
Reality is that you have no one to blame but yourself.
Absolutly!
lou-reed said:
The fact that the recruiting centre is still talking to you is a positive sign. I would encourage you to be open and honest with them. However, do not be too disappointed if the decision does not go your way.
My personnal experience taught me that the best thing to do in any situation is to stay honest. I hope the fact that they are still talking to me is a good sign, but I am prepared whatever the decision will be. If I succeed to show the officers that I am trustworthy enough, that will be really nice. But if I don't, I won't consider that decision as permanent. I will retry once I will get a pardon in few years. Until then, I will have the time to finish my master degree next year to increase my competitivity for when I will reapply. And if I have to wait, I am not in a bad position right now. Although I want to make a career change and join the forces, I already have an interesting career that allows me to increase my leadership and management skills, which will be usefull when I'll join the CF.