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Photo courtesy of Hannah Hancock
“I’m joining the Marine Corps after high school to be either a combative engineer or a security guard to protect the embassies around the world. After I serve, I plan on finishing my schooling to become a police officer. Fire fighting is a side thing I like to do to become more experienced in public safety,” said Hancock.

High school students around the country view college as the next step in the “timeline of life”.  In an attempt to get in their dream school, students are focused on raising their GPA and getting a good score on college admissions tests such as the ACT and SAT.  Senior Hannah Hancock’s next step is not traditional.

Hannah is planning on joining the U.S. Marines after high school which is rare in today’s culture, and even more rare because she is a woman.

Joining the military did not come out of nowhere. The tradition lies in her family.

“My step mom was in the Army, and my brother is an active Marine,” said Hannah. “It runs in the family.”

Hannah’s mother agrees that if not for her family tradition, Hannah would most likely not being choosing this path.

“I believe that Hannah saw first hand what a great opportunity it is through her older brother and wanted to realize that accomplishment in her own life knowing it will provide invaluable skills and experience she will need for her career goal beyond the Marine Corps,” said her mother, Jean.

Hannah is not going into this process as a naive teenager, but as a knowledgeable woman.  She even knows exactly what position she wants to hold.

“The position I’m interested in is MP,” said Hannah. She elaborated on the duties of an MP, “MP stands for Military Police. It’s also referred to as Combative Engineering, which means to defuse bombs.”

Being a woman in this field means being in the minority, but Hannah says she is not alone.

“I go to poolee functions where I meet other females that want to be in the Marines,” said Hannah.

Most mothers would be concerned for the health and well being of their child as he or she faces a grueling journey to become a member of the Marines, but for Jean that is not to be a concern.

“First, I think of the initial processing at boot camp then I think of the challenges of the recruitment training process.  Then I think of how proud we will be, and how accomplished  she will feel having completed such a feat,” said Jean.

With knowledge about the field of training, one would believe that Hannah is far along in the process. In reality that is not true; the journey has just begun.

For the next step in the process Jean said, “Ahead for Hannah is the final processing which is when she will hold an enlisted position and assigned MOS along with a ship date for boot camp.”

The journey will be long for Hannah and her family, but they are optimistic and already feel a sense a pride for what she will be accomplishing.

Jean said, “Through this journey I hope Hannah achieves what she has set out to do; gain greater self discipline, integrity, confidence, and skills and experience that will benefit her life.”