Wiping the sweat from his face, senior Cody Gadberry finishes his CrossFit training for the day.
Driving home, he anticipates what his time at Marine boot camp will be like.
He’s been training three days a week, and learning skills involved in obstacle course training, rifle usage and hiking.
After graduation, Gadberry plans on attending military boot camp to become a member of the United States Marine Corps.
“I decided to join the military in general because I wanted to have an opportunity to serve my country that I’ve lived freely in for my whole life,” he said. “I want to help allow people to continue to live here free. I chose the Marine Corps over any other branch [of the military] because of the professionalism, the physical challenge that goes into earning the title of Marine and the brotherhood.”
Gadberry said his friends and family have supported him throughout the entire process of deciding to become a Marine.
“They have been there for me to talk through decisions and [they] try to understand everything they can,” he said.
Gadberry said he hopes to learn self-reliance and leadership skills from the experience.
“The process to become a Marine is a long and hard process,” he said. “I am most excited for the day I graduate boot camp just because that will probably be the proudest day of my life.”
To become a Marine, Gadberry will go through a test to see if he is healthy enough to be in the military. After that, he will have to wait until he goes to boot camp.
Boot camp is a three-month-long test of physical and mental strength. After he graduates boot camp, he will have earned the title as a United States Marine. After this, though, he will be trained further — combat training and then school for a specialty job within the Marine Corps.
He said, although nerves are definitely a factor, he is generally excited to have the opportunity to serve his country.
“I would say I am slightly nervous to be stationed over seas, but I am also excited for it,” he said. “It’s definitely a good kind of nervous. I look forward to traveling all over the world and learning and seeing new things while having the opportunity to fight for my country.”