We are writing an essay on a student in our lives, a part of a military branch. This article is based upon Katie Clothier, one example of a woman in the Air Force. Also including a Lewis Cass student Croydon Shaw, graduating class of 2022, who is in the Army.We asked both participants multiple questions that correlate to their military branch and school. In this article, we will be presenting to you questions we asked both. These questions correlate to school and their base life.

The first question we asked them was “Is it difficult to do school and the military at the same time?” Croyden said “Not at all. I did training once every weekend, once a month, and over the summer I went to basic training.” While Katie said “No, it’s just like working a full time job and doing school.” The second question that we asked the participants was “Did school drive you to want to join the military?”Croydon answered with a simple no. Stating he’s been thinking of joining the army since third grade, and Katie answered with a similar answer, a simple no. 

The third question we asked was “When and why the military?” Croydon said “Since he’s learned about the army he wanted to join, school did not en-cooperate with it.” Katie said that she joined in 2018, she didn’t have a particular reason, and she didn’t really like school and that’s just where she went. The fourth question was “Was it a difficult choice?” Katie said “Yes, it was a little worse than going to college because you don’t see family and it might affect being away from family.” While Croydon said “The choice was easy. Not only that but so was getting in. They made me take a few tests,(Blood, Covid, Etc.)and sign papers to join.”

The fifth question we asked was “Is it for college?” Both Katie and Croydon said no, it wasn’t for college and Croydon wasn’t planning on doing college after he got out of the military. Katie said that hers was already paid for since her dad was in the military before. The sixth question we asked our participants was “Do you get time with friends outside of the army?” Croydon just said a simple yes, while Katie said “Yes because she saw all her friends that were in different countries, and because of all the different socials you can use to see friends and family back home.” The final question we asked was “How do you balance school-work and military?” Croydon said “It’s easy, sometimes you have to do homework on Sundays and it’s not really hard to get all of his homework done by the due date.” Katie said “She worked and then when she was off she did her school-work.”

With that, I would like to add that being in the military is a good choice after high school. Though you don’t just have that as an option. Trade school, College, ect, are always available for those who try their hardest.