20 years old, Married, 2nd year of active duty in the U.S Air Force. Is it too late for me?

Hello Reddit,

First time poster here with a question about education. Well, mostly about chasing goals. So, hi Reddit. I'm Allenxander and I am enlisted in the U.S Armed Forces--Air Force to be exact. I am married to am amazing woman with Cystic Fibrosis. Feel free to look that up, but it isn't the focus of this post. I am an aspiring author--in between my first two novels--and now that I can receive tution assistance; I was going to begin pursuing a graduates degree in English.

However, I have battled for a long time with figuring out who I am. I think we all have done it or still are, but that battle has constantly plagued my decisions. I am a very plan focused person. If I can get an inkling of an idea or passion, I will swim towards it rapidly. And right now, as I type this on my phone in Africa, I am stuck in the purgitory of good ideas with no clear direction. My interests and skill have jumped from photography, writing, law enforcement, graphic design and engineering(Currently a cop for the AF). All of these have had varying results and feedback on a personal level(photography was probably the thing I was most naturally successful at). And i am currently working with our investigations depart to transfer over to our Special Agent positions. I am not here to talk about myself though.

Space. Space has been a dream of mine, far longer than any other goal or hope that I have ever had. And now, at what I am considering a crossroad of my life(and maybe that is the only reason I am considering the following), I am finding myself wishing to chase it once again. I guess I am trying to say is: Is getting a graduates degree in one of the many fields accepted by Nasa, Space X, etc, even possible for me at this point.

I have been toying with the idea of getting a physics degree and incorporating that with my love of photography by hitting the Optics field. I could stay in both pools of passion while aspiring to the high, high, dreams of one day hitting the Final Frontier. But, how?

Now I know these degrees are heavy in Mathematics and the such. And I have been out of school for a minute. But, while in school, I loved these subjects and with the right material and drive, I know I could push myself to the point of necessary skill. I just need an idea of how, where, and what?

Being active duty in the military makes school a challenge, and I have considered grabbing my G.I bill and hopping over to the guard so I could pursue my degree full-time. Que the wife with the life threatening illness. Now, this lack of knowledge of my part, but I don't know the extent of the guards care for dependents, let alone ones with a large list of medications and practitioners. We have even consider a "divorce" so that she could fill under social security again while I go to school. A plan that I would, as you can imagine, wish to avoid.

And say that I do that. What then? Is it that easy to just waltz into college and start chasing these grand degrees. Are there sources/external methods of learning that any of you have used who are currently investing their years into these degrees? Is it already laughable that I am a twenty year old attempting to dive into this craziness? I don't know. And I don't think I have a specific question in mind. Just any guidance would be beyond helpful. And I know space is a pipe dream. Thousands upon thousands of scientists have dreamed longer than I have of touching the stars, but that doesn't mean I can't either. I am interested in getting on the path to better my chances is all. Thanks for your time. Sorry if this is posted in the wrong place or not pointed to the right people, if you can't tell; I am a little lost.

Submitted December 19, 2016 at 08:34AM by Allenxander http://ift.tt/2hLZMLy