Jordan Birmingham is a senior at Arrowhead High School this year and he says he will soon be joining the Marines. Birmingham wanted Arrowhead to allow him to wear  his military uniform at graduation. And the school board recently ruled that military uniforms will be allowed at graduation.

For Birmingham, “There was really no deciding factor.” He has been thinking about joining the military for more than a year. “I have had a lot of people ask me why I decided to join the military or why I decided to join the Marine Corps. I guess, I just had family, grandparents, cousins, and other relatives in the military. However, I never had anybody in the Marine Corps and that seemed like a challenge I wanted to face,” said Birmingham.

Birmingham says he currently has PT (physical training) every week in Brookefield at a training location.

Birmingham said, “While training I have met a lot of people that I trained with, and then they were shipped off to start the Marine Corps boot camp.”

Birmingham says he has been involved in the Marine Corps for about a year. He mentioned he has been training “pretty much religiously” for it.  He says he leaves for San Diego, California, on February 27.

Birmingham said, “I am graduating at semester [on January 19, 2017]. I am ready for it. I am ready to go. That’s all I think about, everyday now. My family has been extremely supportive about everything. And not only have I had family, I have had friends and other students that I have asked and was like, ‘hey what is your opinions on this, how do you feel about this?’ Most students, I would say about 99% of them think it is great. They have had the attitude of, ‘why shouldn’t you be able to wear uniforms instead of the cap and gown for graduation?”

Where does Arrowhead fit in his decision to join the military?

“Arrowhead has definitely help me make the decision to join [the Marine Corps]. The opportunities I have had here allowed me to make my decision on doing this and being a part of the Marine Corps and joining. Through what I have found, college is not for me, right now, at this moment. I was looking for a non-desk job related idea and career. And there is nothing that relates to a desk job in the Marine Corps. It is all pretty hands on. I haven’t really thought about my plans after the Marine Corps. I am kind of just taking things one large step at a time. As time goes on I will either enlist or find a career in the field I want to study.”

Although Birmingham is graduating at semester he is happy that the school board ruled military uniforms could be worn at graduation.

Birmingham said,  “Overall, I want to thank a lot of the students for the support.”