Christmas 2020

Chris Albert 00:00:00 (link to this point)

You know, one of the things I'm always saying is that if this country is gonna get better, if this country is gonna go on the right path, we have to step up as a community. Veterans are the sleeping giant in this country, and it is time for us to step up. That's why I wanna talk to you about The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina. Now you might have thought about The Citadel in the past as this corps of cadets, this military institution, but they have programs for veterans that don't involve you joining the corps of cadets, don't involve you wearing a uniform every day, and don't involve you living a military lifestyle. If you wanna do that, great.

But if that's not what you're up for right now after your military career, then you don't have to do that, and you can access some of the best programs in the world. The Citadel has some hot degrees in intelligence, tactical strength and conditioning, engineering, and project management. And there's five student type options for veterans. There's graduate college, there's evening undergraduate, there's active duty students, non cadet day program, returning cadet veterans, and online programs. The academic offerings include undergraduate, graduate, college transfer, graduate certificates, and online degrees.

Veterans have access to every single academic degree the college offers, and they have the most flexibility when it comes to their schedule. They can major in anything offered to the cadets and would take those classes during the day with the cadets. But then there's other programs offered in the evening or online and graduate programs to choose from too to make things so flexible for you. The US World and News report has named the Citadel the number one college for veterans in the South. And for veterans who choose to take classes on campus, they get to be a civilian student in a military environment.

They don't have to wear uniforms, like I said before. They don't have to join the military culture of the corps of cadets. The atmosphere is a really good transition environment from military to civilian life. There's an organic mentorship that comes from taking classes with the cadets. The cadets wanna talk to you guys.

They wanna hear your stories. They wanna know what it was actually like to be in the military. A lot of the a lot of these men and women are gonna go on to serve as officers in the military, and they're gonna exact change. And they need to hear from you guys. They you also get access to The Citadel's alumni network.

Like I said, this is one of the most illustrious institutions in the world. And when you join the Citadel and you graduate, you're part of their alumni network. That includes so many leaders. It includes so many business leaders, so many leaders from the military, and so many leaders from the government. The college's core values of honor, duty, and respect align with veteran culture.

They align with who you are, and it's something that you're not gonna get anywhere else in this country. There is tons of special assistance for veterans at The Citadel. And whether you're a veteran or active duty military personnel, you can take advantage of these programs. You also get access to the veteran student success center, the career center, the academic success center, the student veteran association, and all campus clubs. If you wanna play rugby, you could do that.

If you wanna you wanna lift weights, you could do that. You get access to everything that the students get. There's fellowship opportunities. There's tons and tons of financial assistance. So if you're interested in getting a degree from The Citadel and building your life, head over to citadel.edu/veterans.

This is Chris Albert, and I'm here to remind you of one thing. Someday, you're going to die. And that's not some morbid statement or scary idea. It's solid fact. Your time here on this earth is limited.

And we need to be reminded of this as much as possible with one simple reason, to live your best life while you can. This is the Warrior Soul podcast.

You know, when I was a bit younger and, you know, not when I was a kid, not when I was in my teen years, but when I was in my twenties and Christmas had lost a bit of its luster. Right? There was no more Santa Claus. Right? Family gatherings at that point had had started to dwindle because I always had a smaller family.

And, you know, just wasn't that magical time of the year it was for everybody. I hadn't had a an established family, hadn't been in a really good relationship, hadn't been in anything, you know, to speak of. There wasn't much to celebrate. And, you know, I think of a lot of you guys out there who are where I was. Right?

You Christmas has probably lost its luster a bit. Celebrations have died down. You know, you're not expecting anything under your tree or in your stocking. Right? You're not you're not maybe not going to family gatherings like you used to.

Maybe this time of year for you is a lonelier, colder time of the year. And when you're in that type of situation, it it's hard. It's hard because everybody around you seems to be celebrating. Everybody around you seems to be happy. Everybody around you seems to be with somebody.

They seem to be warm, and you seem to be stuck out in the cold somehow. What I wanna say to you is this, this time doesn't have to last forever. It doesn't. You know, there's something to be said for going through that period, for going through a period of time when you don't have everything that everybody else has, when you don't have, you know, all the warmth and and things like that. There's there's something to be said for that time being spent out in the cold.

Right? Makes you tougher. It makes you harder. But at the same time, what I hope it doesn't do is I hope it doesn't take your hope away, your hope that you could have a better life, that you could experience love, that you could have that warmth again. And what I want you to understand is that it's possible for you.

It is possible for you. And it might not come easy. It might not come right away, but it will come if you put the work into it, if you put the work into yourself, if you're you're looking after your personal development, if you're looking after your physical fitness, if you're looking after your ability to interact with other humans, it'll come if you're a good person, if you're somebody who is constantly moving forward and not getting wallowed down by the things that are in front of your face right now. Because that's what I want you to understand here. Everything around you, whether you are experiencing warmth and love and and everything right now or whether you're out in the cold, everything around you is temporary.

The world is constantly moving whether you are or you're not. And it's only through constant improvement. It's only through constant vigilance. It's only through a constant desire to learn and a constant desire to grow that we grow with the world. This has never been an easy place.

For hundreds of thousands of years, human beings lived out in the cold. The world was a violent and horrible place. And there's a lot of things that people say about the world today, but the world is still better than it's ever been. So at the end of the day, I hope you're grateful that you're living here now and in a place that has is better than it's ever been. And I hope that you have hope for yourself, that you have hope for your ability to regain whatever it is that you lost, and your ability to build this life into what you want it to be.

And I also hope that you're having a Merry Christmas and happy holidays and an absolutely outstanding New Year. And that's all I got for you guys today. This is Chris Albert with the Warrior Soul podcast, and I am out.