A Path to Marine Corps Service - Lourdes Balderrama

Ten years from now, I tell my students, I want to hear your stories, I want to hear that you've had a great time, that your life is going better than what you thought it would be. Raise your hand nice and high if you are enrolled history this year. I'm Lourdes Pantarama. I am a teacher in El Paso, Texas. I've been teaching for 16 years, which has been amazing. You want kids to feel like they are important, that you're listening to them. You want to make sure that they speak to their counselors to get them in the right direction. As a teacher, we have to be there for somebody who can help guide them to make the correct decisions. Some of my students are talking about wanting to go into the Marine Corps, and so I kind of said, you know what, I need to reach out. I got in touch with Sergeant Rodas. I'll talk to him about a few kids. It's not just about running around and challenging yourself physically. No, it's very much mentally as well. The dedication, commitment, and focus are the traits that the Marine Corps really emphasizes. These students have that fight in them, you know, that I'm not going to quit. I'm going to make sure that I do everything from start to finish. Those are the kids who are motivated and they want to challenge themselves. Those are the kids who are going to be good Marines. Seeing these kids excel at the end of the day is, I think, what matters most.