Walking into the red carpeted room, he focuses on the task in front of him. After strenuous hours of contemplating, not only alone, but also with family and friends, senior Matt Rios has decided to follow his heart and join the military. Staring at the man in uniform ahead of him, he is instructed to raise his right hand and make the promise, knowing before long he will be packing his bags to go to boot camp and prepare for his life as a Marine.
Rios swore into the Marine Corps on March 6. Since then, Rios has begun preparing mentally and physically for his upcoming experience. Rios will leave for boot camp Sept. 23; however, until then he is focusing on graduating high school and preparing for life ahead of him.
“Now I’m in the delayed entry program with other people who are waiting to graduate before they ship out,” Rios said. “We [currently] have workouts at the recruiting office.”
Rios said he has many different choices of the type of duty he can perform in the Marines; however, he said he hopes he will end up doing some type of avionics, or engineering of aircraft.
“I’ll be doing something like working on planes, but I haven’t found which [job] I [received] yet,” Rios said. “I just want to be a part of something bigger than myself and accept the challenge the Marine Corps offers.”
While Rios said he is most excited about getting to travel during his experience, he said he does have some concerns as well.
“Boot camp for sure [will be the biggest challenge],” Rios said. “[I am most nervous about] leaving family and friends behind.”
Despite being nervous about leaving them behind, Rios said his friends and family have been especially supportive and he is thankful for their help in achieving his goals.
“I want to learn as much as I can and be really good at my job,” Rios said. “I think the biggest effect will be how the Marines will shape me into a better man and teach me core values that I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life.”
