The number of high schoolers joining the military has increased, especially at Bullitt East.
Even five years ago, if you said that you were going to join the military, then they would try to tell you anything so you wouldn’t. This was mainly a thing with girls wanting to join, not so much boys. For boys, it was a sign of bravery, but for girls, it was unwelcome masculinity for women. But now people are encouraging them to join and saying it’s a great choice.
People are now starting to look into the military for even the job that they are currently doing, and what they want to do. For example, even trades that people are in school for, people are looking into the military path for that. Multiple people say that the reason they are looking into the military option is because of the benefits. When you join the military, they pay for college if you want to go, free health insurance, and a lot of the jobs travel, so having the benefit to travel is people’s dream.
It is a really great option for people who don’t know what they want to do when they get out of the military. This really helps to set up your life, so when you decide to get out, it looks good on your resume, and you can get free college. Or you can stay in if you like it and have that plan. Joining the military is a great option if you graduate at 17 instead of 18, because you don’t have as many options when you graduate at 17. All you need to have is parental consent if you do choose the military.
Sometimes, when women join the military, they gain more respect from people, but at the same time. Women might be doubted just because of their gender. Oliva McGuire was gonna join the military, and people had very different reactions about it. McGuire said, “Honestly, when I would tell people, some of them were like surprised, and I could see that some gave me respect, but other people, I honestly feel they doubted me because I was a girl. But that wasn’t everyone.” McGuire has chosen not to join anymore. McGuire said, “I thought joining the military would be a great option for me because it showed me discipline, and if I wanted to go to college and I thought at least I would have that paid for.” The reason for joining is that she didn’t have a plan; besides that, she wanted to do automotive.
One thing that really holds people back from joining can be family. Not everyone makes that defeat them, though. Alyssa Barnett is joining the Marines and is already in that process. “My sister was pretty upset at first because I’m getting sent as soon as I graduate, but she sees how happy I am with my journey in it… My grandpa was pretty mad about it because I don’t know what I’m getting myself into, but he’s accepting it,” Barnett said. Not all families will be accepting at first, but it’s good when they come around. Families just have so much care, and seeing their kids growing up and going into the military can be hard.
