After finishing high school, there seems to be a limitless list of choices to make about the direction of your life and a million paths from which to choose. Some students take a break from school, some go straight into work and some go right to college. Many students choose to enlist in various branches of the military.
East High senior, Arthur Orr, is one of these students. He said he aims to make a life-long career out of the military and decided to go directly into basic training for the army after graduation.
"It was kind of a dare for myself," Orr said. "I like to go ahead and challenge my fear. I guess you can say my family calls me a daredevil."
Students learn about military options several ways. Military recruiters make frequent visits to high school campuses and school counselors are aware of the opportunities. At East High School, career resource advisor Vonnie Gaither said some students need help finding direction.
"When students come to me, and they seem to be lost, not sure they want to go to college, not sure of exactly what they want to do, then I tell them to talk to a recruiter," Gaither said. "They don't necessarily have to sign anything or say that they are going into the military but at least talk to them for the various information."
Gaither has been the career resource adviser at East for eight years and said she is a firm believer in having recruiters at school.
"It gives the kids options. Not all students are not ready to attend college right out of high school, and also some do not have the necessary grades or course classes, so it gives them other choices to make," she said.
Gather also said times are changing and that recruiters are looking for a different breed of student.
"You have to have a high school diploma," Gaither said. "It used to be a place where the bad guys could go. Now the military wants the college educated and not the bad guys."
Students also get interested in the military through the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps, or JROTC. Although JROTC is not used to recruit students, it is a stepping stone that helped some students decide their future.
High school senior Alexandrea Guild has been in JROTC at East for the last two years and is a captain in the class.
Guild said taking JROTC has definitely helped prepare her for her future. She's planning on joining the Air Force, but, she said, it has other benefits, too.
"It's just a good experience, you meet new people and get to try new things," Guild said. "I don't really care for the push ups, but..."
Guild said she is partially inspired to join the Air Force by other family members who were in the military. But, she said, there's even more to it than that.
"I just really want to be a fighter pilot. It just seems exciting and different, something you don't really hear about from teenage girls," she said. "I want to prove those guys wrong, and prove to them that we are just as good as them."
Army recruiter Leo Prichard is an E 5 sergeant and has been in the army for eight years. He said that going to the high schools is important because recruiters can tell students what the army is really like.
"Nine times out of ten people think that all we do is eat bugs, roll in the mud, paint our face green and jump out of airplanes," he said, "and that's not what the army is about."
Sergeant Prichard said recruiting in high schools helps generate interest in those students who are unfamiliar with the military. And it helps the recruiters discover students with potential.
"When we are in the high schools we are looking for the highest quality soldier," he said.
Sergeant Prichard said although the affects are indirect, people have been influenced by September 11 and the War on Terrorism. He said it has infused youth with a greater sense of patriotism.
"The teens are looking toward the services now in a different light than they did ten years ago," Prichard said. "Ten years ago, most people looked at the military as a last resort. Now they're looking at the military as a first line to giving something back to the community, protecting their families, standing up for what they believe in."
Anthony Lopez, now 21, enlisted in the Army shortly after his 20 th birthday. At the time, he was pursuing a career in the culinary arts, but he decided to join just as his father and grandfather had done before him.
"I kind of stopped what I was doing and told my dad I wanted to join the military. He said, 'I love you son. Go ahead and do it. Have fun.' So I did," Lopez said.
Shortly afterward Lopez when to basic training.
"The first four weeks is hell, like everyone else says, but you'll do a lot of things that no one else would ever do," he said.
Lopez said his drill sergeants were mean and that getting them angry was the worst. He even admits to crying once. Even so, he said the pain of endless push-ups during basic could not compare with the feeling of finding out he was going overseas.
"I was still in basic training, and the drill sergeants were being funny and thought it would be a funny joke to tell us where we were going after basic training," he said. "They were like, 'Lopez, you're going to Fort Hood, Texas. Oh yeah, you're probably going to Iraq.' I'm 20 years old and I don't want to go to war."
Lopez's tour in Iraq was short. He said, for the most part, he drove tanks. He said he grew close to the supportive group of soldiers he toured with and that helped comfort him. Lopez said it was encouraging when women and children approached him to shake his hand. After two months, an injury sent Lopez home.
"I was driving really fast. A 75-ton tank can go about 80 mph in a straightaway, so that's pretty fast. I was going through a sandstorm and my tank commander said, 'Hit it, Lopez. Let's get the hell out of here.' I just kept on going," Lopez said. "I hit a sand burn or a hill. The tank jumped, hit some air and I landed nose first and my knees went straight into the dash board."
Despite this injury, Lopez said his army experience has changed him as person. He said he's more mature and respectful. Lopez encourages high school seniors who want to go to college to continue with those plans. While he recommends the Army for those who think they would benefit from structure in their lives.
Unlike the previous East High seniors, instead of going directly to basic, Amber Madrid plans to graduate from JROTC to a college ROTC program.
After college, Madrid will spend at least four years active duty. Knowing there is always a possibility of being called to go overseas, Madrid said she's ready for anything.
"Whatever happens, happens. They'll assign me to a job if I don't pick one myself. They'll put me where they need me. I'll do what they need me to do. I'll go where they need me to go," Madrid said. "I think we live in a great country and we all owe it something."
Madrid said everyone who is able to should serve the country, whether it is in the military or not.
Military recruitment in high school
