Kyle Bartholomew, a member of Arlington High's 2009 graduating class, spent the beginning of last summer very differently from the rest of his classmates. Instead of getting ready for college, he was preparing to go to South Carolina to attend the U.S. Marine Corps training camp.

He was in a minority among his classmates -- just 0.3 percent of his graduating class enrolled in the military.

     Bartholomew at boot camp. /Elena Bartholomew photo

In the days leading up to his departure, Bartholomew remembers, "I started having trouble sleeping. I guess it was from all the different people coming up and asking, "Are you really sure you want to do this?" and "Are you ready?"

"I started to question myself and wondered if I really was ready. I knew I wanted to, but I just didn't know if I was mature enough and if I should wait a year or two."

Bartholomew left Arlington in June, shortly after graduating. Despite the fact that he was not sure that his decision to join the Marines was the correct one, he soon learned that he should not have doubted himself. It turned out that the instructors were not as strict as he had expected, which made him feel more at ease.

After passing the first wave of homesickness, Bartholomew got used to life at boot camp and adjusted quite well, always looking forward to his ultimate goal.

He recalls, "I just started taking it in milestones or a checklist, if you will. Each training evolution I completed brought me closer to becoming a Marine."

Bartholomew even found some of the drills to be somewhat enjoyable, such as the obstacle courses, confidence courses, and rifle range. By the end of boot camp, he realized that he had learned many valuable life lessons. "Boot camp teaches you to work as a team or you will suffer, and in combat, individuals get people killed," he says.

Along with his lessons learned, Bartholomew believes that every single experience at boot camp was worthwhile.

In an induction ceremony last Sept. 4, he became a U.S. Marine. Although he faced many struggles, he says, "On the day I got my eagle, globe, and anchor and claimed my title as a U.S. Marine, I felt that everything was worth it. All the early morning PT [physical training], the same food every week, the quarterdeck, the nonstop ache, the hot weather, and all the hikes seemed like nothing compared to what the title of Marine is worth."

At this time, and his reserve unit are scheduled to be deployed to Afghanistan in mid-2011. Asked how he feels about this, Bartholomew replied, "I'm not worried about deploying or really even dying, for that matter. I guess it's a confidence thing.

"They drill into you that you are the best of the best, and machine gunners are the baddest mothers in the infantry. And it's something that you come to believe yourself. But I'm confident in my ability to do my job well, and if I do that, then it's just up to chance what happens over there."

The writer is a senior in the honors journalism class at Arlington High School.