The Marine Corps Educators Workshop is held throughout the year to give educators a taste of what the Marine Corps is all about.
I was selected as an influencer to follow the Indiana Educators while they attended the 2018 workshop in San Diego.
As I am starting to write the first part of my post, I am in an airplane over Utah! In a few hours we will be landing in San Francisco then getting on our last flight to San Diego. I am heading to the 2018 Marine Corps Educators Workshop along with 30 educators from Indiana.
Until late 2017, I had never head of the Marine Corps Educators Workshop. When I was contacted about the opportunity, I began researching the workshop and reading all that I could about the event. After careful consideration, I decided to apply for the opportunity to go. Granted, I am not an educator, however, they do take media/social influencers along.
In January of this year, I found out that I was chosen as an alternate. Fast forward to February and I received the email that there was an opening if I wanted to go. I must admit I considered NOT going! But the more I thought about it, I knew this was one of those opportunities of a lifetime that I could not pass up. My husband applied to take vacation during the week I would be gone so he would be home with the kids and their schedules/routines would not change so I would feel better about leaving them.
Being chosen for this opportunity with the Marine Corps Educator Workshop has been very surreal and an honor. Several of my extended family members have served in different branches of the military and we have several friends who are/have served as well.
This opportunity is also an honor since I will be surrounded by educators from both Indiana and Illinois. I have profound respect for our teachers. I am still in contact with several of my own teachers. We entrust our children with these educators. They are molding the young minds of our children and the children of our community. They also protect our children and are many times their second, if not first, biggest supporter. So being able to talk to them about their experiences and thoughts about this week will also be a wonderful experience for me.
The goal of the Educators Workshop is quite simple. The Marine Corps is known for only wanting the best. Our teachers know who their best is. The Marines want our teachers to be information and see how the Corps works first hand. That way when they talk to their students, they both have a better understanding of what is in store if their student decides to enlist.
I will be adding to this post throughout the week, so you can get a taste of what a week at the Marine Corps Educators Workshop will be like!
Monday – Arriving in San Diego for the Marine Corps Educators Workshop
Since Monday was our travel day, there was not a lot on our agenda for today except getting settled into our rooms and the Welcome Dinner. We were hosted by Humphreys Half Moon Inn in San Diego for the week.
At the Welcome Dinner, we had an opportunity to get to know more about the Marines that would be with us throughout the week as well as the chance to get to know the other educators and media that were in attendance too.
Tuesday – Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego
I think of all our days here, this may be the one I am the most apprehensive about! Not only we will be arriving at the depot just like the young recruits do, we will also get the opportunity to take part in the Bayonet Assault Course and the Combat Fitness Test!
First, the Yellow Footprints. For me, this is such an amazing experience. To step on the same yellow footprints of so many of the young men that have went through the recruit training process and have even paid the ultimate sacrifice is truly a humbling experience.
If you watch this video carefully, you will see someone in a purple active wear jacket with blonde hair, that is me.
Gunnery Sgt Perez is fantastic. He is not only explaining the whole arrival process of the recruits, he even talked to us just like the recruits are spoken too. (I will be talking more about Gunnery Sgt Perez and the others in a separate post). Our arrival was just like the experience the recruits have, except we arrived during the day.
