Ub3rmike
09-04-07, 08:36 PM
My friend, who is about 2 years older than me, showed some intial interest in joining the USMC, even when I was still thinking about doing Army ROTC and didn't even know much about the Marine Corps. However, the one thing that was holding him back was the "I need to get fit" part. I eventually convinced him to talk to the recruiters two weeks ago, about a week after I myself got DEPd in. He was all good, taken off his ADHD medication and found to be cured of it 5 years ago, only problem was that he needed to lose about 5-7 pounds.
I convinced him to come to the weekly PT we have on Wednesdays (I really just wanted a ride to the recruiting office :D) and eventually we got him all fired up so that he was doing PT on other days besides Wednesday at the recruiting office for people who need to lose a little weight to pass through MEPS. A lot of people said I'm supposed to get a backpack or something for the first one. However the feeling of accomplishment that I got from being able to motivate my friend from hitting a wall and stuck on needing to lose 4 pounds and keeping his spirits up during PT (I'd try to run alongside with him or make sure that we were in the same group doing death sprints and endurance exercises on the track) and outside of the recruiting office, to just suddenly dropping the weight today outweighs whatever reward that they may offer for the first referral. He is checking into the hotel for MEPS tonight and becoming a poolee tomorrow while the rest of us are doing some more PT at the office.
Supposedly I'm going to be up for a bump up to PFC should I be able to get a 2nd one, not sure if there is any incentive for going beyond 2 aside from the great feeling of helping someone make probably one of the smartest and best decisions in their life. My recruiter told me that because I was the first senior of my high school in the DEP, that anyone else in my school could potentially be written down under me, just wondering if that is true? I still have until next July before shipping to boot camp, but that isn't stopping me from talking to my friends and making sure that the applicants at our office, even the ones that aren't my referrals, are able to do well on their ASVAB. I just feel great that only 4 weeks in, I can already do my part to help out in the recruiting office.
I convinced him to come to the weekly PT we have on Wednesdays (I really just wanted a ride to the recruiting office :D) and eventually we got him all fired up so that he was doing PT on other days besides Wednesday at the recruiting office for people who need to lose a little weight to pass through MEPS. A lot of people said I'm supposed to get a backpack or something for the first one. However the feeling of accomplishment that I got from being able to motivate my friend from hitting a wall and stuck on needing to lose 4 pounds and keeping his spirits up during PT (I'd try to run alongside with him or make sure that we were in the same group doing death sprints and endurance exercises on the track) and outside of the recruiting office, to just suddenly dropping the weight today outweighs whatever reward that they may offer for the first referral. He is checking into the hotel for MEPS tonight and becoming a poolee tomorrow while the rest of us are doing some more PT at the office.
Supposedly I'm going to be up for a bump up to PFC should I be able to get a 2nd one, not sure if there is any incentive for going beyond 2 aside from the great feeling of helping someone make probably one of the smartest and best decisions in their life. My recruiter told me that because I was the first senior of my high school in the DEP, that anyone else in my school could potentially be written down under me, just wondering if that is true? I still have until next July before shipping to boot camp, but that isn't stopping me from talking to my friends and making sure that the applicants at our office, even the ones that aren't my referrals, are able to do well on their ASVAB. I just feel great that only 4 weeks in, I can already do my part to help out in the recruiting office.