Future graduate plans for career in Marines

Senior Eun Tak Jang plans to join a Marines training program.
Photo by Isabel Vayser

On June 11, 2017,  senior Eun Tak Jang plans to leave for the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, Calif. bringing nothing but an ID and a plane ticket.

Jang said he enlisted in the Delayed Entry Program, also known as DEP, a program in which those who join the United States Armed Forces ship out to Basic Training before they become members of the Army.

Through the DEPprogram, Jang has been training every Wednesday since the spring of 2017 at a Marine recruitment facility in Mount Prospect, Ill. to  prepare to become a member of the Selected Marine Corps Reserve.

“[Training] is more mental than anything because people are at different physical levels,” said Jang. “I guess you kind of have to disengage from what is actually happening. That is what I’ve noticed and what I’ve been taught too, because [when] the Marines are yelling at you and screaming in your face, you cannot be too soft.”

Jang said he enlisted because the Military will cover the majority of his college tuition. In the spring of 2019, Jang plans to attend the American Academy of Art after he finishes his service in the Marines.

According to Jang, his parents were anxious with his decision but accepted his choice to enlist mainly because of the financial benefits.

Jang’s mother, Young Suk Choi, said she is worried about Jang being called into active war.

“That is a very stressful situation,” said Choi.“I do not want him to be in that place.

“I am a little bit sorry to my son because we could not [financially] support what [he] wanted. That is why I appreciate and agree with his idea.”

Jang said the Marines might be the best option for a lot of people but is often not considered because people are scared they will miss out on college.

“[Glenbrook North] is a very [academically]-driven school,” said Jang. “We have this idea that all of us have to go to college after high school and graduate and get a job, and that is the path that many people take.”

According to David Boyle, coordinator of college counseling, about two to three percent of GBN students do not go to college after graduating high school, but he believes students should take a gap year or serve in the Military if they want to.

Despite being one of the few  students going into the Marines right after high school, Jang said he is confident with his decision.

“I was pretty stubborn about [joining the Marines],” said Jang. “I knew what I wanted to do.”