Courtesy of Miguel Echols
Growing up in Memphis meant choosing between limited paths. If you were tall and skinny, you played basketball. Short and husky meant football. I loved soccer, but was talked out of it early. I tried basketball, but I never made the teams. I also tried my hand at rap, but I knew it would never pay the bills.
Only two options were left for me: go to college or join the military.
College was the default option, but I never planned for it. I also didn’t want to wait four years to make money.
When I took a step back, I realized all I wanted to do was travel and work. I asked myself: Why go to college when the military would let me do exactly that right now?
I spent months researching the military
The military offered adventure that college couldn’t provide. The military appealed to me in ways college couldn’t. I wanted structure and adventure, to serve something bigger while needing financial stability. College couldn’t provide the experiences I craved.
I wanted to ride helicopters, drive military trucks, and shoot machine guns. I wanted to live like an action star. The military would pay for education while providing immediate income. College meant student loan debt while waiting four years.
When I finally decided on the military, I had to face the difficult choice of deciding which branch was right for me.
I created pro and con charts, analyzing myself first and then each of the military branches. I also interviewed recruiters, veterans, and retirees.
My decision narrowed down to the Marines or the Army. Unable to decide, I prayed for guidance.
That night, I dreamed of myself wearing the blue uniforms, marching with a rifle. When I woke up, I had my answer. The dream told me I was already a Marine.
Joining the military was one of the best decisions of my life
People in my life tried to dissuade me from joining the Marines, worried I’d be sent to the front lines.
But joining gave me the leg up I needed in life and let me live my childhood dreams. I got to be G.I. Joe in the real world.
The military introduced me to incredible people and changed my outlook on many things. For example, I didn’t like kids before joining, but the service opened me up to them.
The Marines also helped me realize that my true dreams lay in travel. I would’ve never learned that if I stayed in the US on a college campus.
I’d planned to do 20 years, but I departed early because I wanted to pursue a nomadic lifestyle.
The military taught me I’m in control of my own life
Thanks to the military, I have no student loan debt, so I’m free financially.
With patience, initiative, and education, you can make anything happen. I had glimpses of this before the military, but service molded these traits in me.
My decision to join the military instead of attending college allowed me to become someone I never could have imagined.
It gave me the confidence to handle whatever life throws at me and showed me that the path that scares everyone else is often the path you’re meant to take.
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