Where you nervous about telling your mom/family about your choice to join the military?No, not really. Everyone knew I wasn’t really enjoying school, and I didn’t have a major decided so the fact I finally decided on doing something made me feel less nervous to tell them.Why did you pick the National Guard? I wanted to stay home and not have my mom worrying about me getting deployed.What made you go into infantry?I have no idea. It just seemed to be an interesting unit to go into with the weapons and such.Would you ever change your specialty and why?Yes, I would. I would like to get out of the infantry and switch over to something that can turn into a real world job.Were you nervous at first to join the Army?No, because I had a buddy who enlisted before I did, and he told me about it. I also knew I was going to go back to being stationed at home.When did you finish your basic training? September of 2014How did you feel once you finished basic training? It was a relief to finally be home and out of the Georgia weather.What was basic training like? It was pretty much hot and miserable. We did drill tests, worked out, ate gross food and got to know each other.Was it hard being away in Georgia without using your phone and having contact? No, not really. I was still able to communicate through sending letters while sometimes they let us go on our phones once or twice. We also had family weekend which was cool.Did you meet a lot of new friends through basic training? YesDo you keep in touch with any of them still? Yes, I have a group chat with 5 of them.What do you do for the National Guard now? Drill one weekend a month as well as going to the Woodbury Armory sometimesWhat was it like to do funerals for veterans that have passed? It was interesting, kind of tough to see the family and handing the flag off to them, but I also enjoyed it because I had a close friend’s grandfather pass away, and I had the honor of working his funeral.When going to drill every month, what do you do during those weekends? Absolutely nothing… Well, we do drills and it really just depends. This past weekend we did land navigation.Are you close with any of the others in your unit? Yes, I have quite a few friends I see out a lot.Do you ever wish you didn’t join the Army? Why? Yes, I wish I would’ve gone to college instead.Do you plan to go back to college at all? EventuallyIf you do plan to go back to college, which would it be?Probably just Rowan as it’s close to home, and I have some friends who go thereWhere do you think you would be right now if you didn’t join the Army? Honestly, I have no idea.Do you see yourself staying in the Army for a while now? No, I am going to get out when my first contract is up.If there is a kid who doesn’t know what to do after high school, would you suggest the Army/National Guard? Yes, I would simply for the fact that they get free college education.