By Richard Pabalate, Courier Staff Writer
In today’s day and age, high schoolers are given many options to succeed after devoting twelve years of their life to school. Some of the most popular options are going to college, serving in the military, joining the workforce, and becoming an entrepreneur. At James Logan High School, there are a few juniors and seniors with the intent to join the military for several reasons.
The military has many benefits that are very lucrative to many high schoolers. Many decide to serve because of the free college, opportunity to travel, or simply as a possible post-high school plan.
Jerrald James Sarmiento, senior at James Logan High is planning on joining the Marine Corps after high school to become an engineer in the military.
Sarmiento had his reasons for choosing the Marine Corps as opposed to the other 4 branches.“At first, I was planning on joining the Air Force, but my cousin told me he was joining the Marine Corps. I started to look into the Marine Corps a little bit more and realized it was the one for me. The status it holds being able to call yourself a Marine, the skills, and the discipline you can learn got me,” he said. “I plan on serving my minimum of four years and getting out to attending a college to become an actor,”
Logan junior, Ruben Navarro plans on joining the Marine Corps. Ruben was one of the few students that new early on in their high school career that they would be joining the military.
“I decided my sophomore year. Originally, I was planning to be an American Sign Language translator but my uncle was in the Marine Corps and as soon as I saw him in his uniform, I knew the Marine Corps was for me. He looked so manly and strong, and that was what I wanted,” he said, “I plan to be a firefighter in the military, so after I get out, I can still be a firefighter as a civilian.”
Jason Adams, Logan senior shared why he chose the Navy rather than the other branches.
“Honestly, it was the only branch I looked into. I went to the recruiting station and figured this one was for me.”
We also asked why he decided to join the military in the first place, and he says, “I wanted to get out of my parents’ house and travel. Kinda be on my own, and the college benefits were cool too,”
Well, there you go! Along with the many other choices to go through after high school, the military offers many benefits. Some students here at James Logan plan on joining and many others may want to in the future.
