Photo By Sgt. Maj. Valerie Resciniti | Future soldier Ivan Melgarejo, works out during physical fitness training at the...... read more read more
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MISSION VIEJO, Calif. - It’s a mild winter’s day in Southern California. Standing outside the high school gym, Ivan Melgarejo, recalls the years he spent training to be an El Toro Charger. He loved the discipline of football, he said.
At five foot six, he’s physically unimposing, but exudes a confidence and determination he says made him a pretty good linebacker. Now the assistant coach at El Toro High School in Lake Forest, Calif. Ivan is passing on his lessons learned to today’s football players.
Motivational workout music and intermittent grunts of muscle chasing teens echo in the background as Ivan describes his life’s ambitions and talks about how he arrived at an unconventional decision.
Ivan grew up in Anaheim, in a traditional Hispanic household with three siblings and working parents. He grew up envisioning what many young kids do: hard work and a good education are the keys to great paying jobs and achieving the American dream, “I wanted to be the first one in my family to graduate from a four-year college," he said.
This is the goal Ivan spent his middle and high school years preparing for. In eighth grade, he enrolled in the Advanced via Individual Determination program. Also called AVID, it is an academic program geared toward assisting students in getting accepted into college, offered resources and mentorship, taught him skills to succeed in school, and showed him a clear map of courses he’d need to meet college pre-requisites.
He followed the AVID study plan, played freshman, junior varsity and varsity football to develop his discipline and commitment skills, and remained focused on his college dream.
When Ivan graduated from El Toro High School in June 2012, he had a 3.8 grade point average, and letters of acceptance from California State University Fullerton, CSU Long Beach, CSU Bakersfield, and San Diego State University.
With four colleges to choose from, Ivan was at a crossroads. There was a fifth option rolling in the back of his mind; one that would fulfill another dream, but delay his education plans. “Some people thought I was crazy,” he said.
This dream began when Ivan was in seventh grade, after he attended his older brother’s army basic training graduation, “I liked how they worked together, the discipline, the traditions they had,” he said.
Ivan’s first impression of the military was one of camaraderie and adventure, “I talked to some veterans that day and I liked their stories of being out there, in the action.” He said it lit a fire in him.
He put his military service aspirations on the backburner in order to focus on school. It wasn’t until the time came to choose a college that his military passion reemerged. He had an urge to travel and see other things, “I wanted to take my own route in life.”
A close friend encouraged him to follow his heart and visit a local Army recruiter. It was then that Ivan knew his road to the “American Dream” was going to be through the U.S. Army, “I already knew I wanted to join when I walked in.” He was astonished by the number of jobs he could choose from, he said. But the options didn't overwhelm him, he also already knew exactly what he wanted, “I love destroying things and putting them back together again.” He enlisted as a combat engineer.
There was another factor that helped influenced Ivan’s decision, “I wasn’t financially prepared for school,” he said.
Ivan isn’t alone. The most recent statistics show that college-bound students are alarmingly unprepared for the financial burden of higher education. According to finaid.org, two-thirds of today’s students who graduate with a bachelor’s degree also graduate with some debt. The U.S. is currently experiencing its biggest student loan debt bubble in history, with over a trillion dollars in student debt, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
“I didn’t want to be like everybody else, working a minimum wage job, while going to college,” Ivan said.
His decision to join the army will keep Ivan from becoming a financial statistics. The Army is currently offering a guaranteed scholarship of $4,500 in yearly tuition assistance for all soldiers to use while they serve on active duty, said Staff Sgt. Lavetta Fox, a recruiter for the Southern Calif. Recruiting Battalion in Mission Viejo. So Ivan will owe little to nothing for any college he completes while working for the army. Once he completes his military service he will receive an additional 36 months of education benefits, said Fox.
The Army places a high emphasis on ensuring its soldiers are educated, “A lot of people don’t realize how much education is part of being a soldier,” said Fox. “We just don’t enlist you and then kick you out when your three or four years is up. Leaders are constantly pushing soldiers to go to school.”
While finances and current unemployment rates may cause many of today’s college students to face an uncertain future, Ivan has given himself a little security. When he looks to the end of a standard four-year college cycle, he sees clear advantages in the military path he’s chosen, “My friends will barely be starting their careers, many will still live at home,” he said. “I’m going to have a career started, two years of college under my belt, I’ll be living on my own, and I’ll have job experience.”
His dream to be the first in his family to get a bachelor’s degree hasn’t changed, “I’m going to get either a teaching certificate or an engineering degree.”
With nearly 30 percent of today’s college students dropping out without a degree, according to a new analysis of government data by the think tank education sector, it is feasible that Ivan will achieve his college dream even before his college-bound friends.
Today is Ivan’s final day as the El Toro Chargers’ assistant football coach. In two days he boards a plane bound for Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri, where he will spend 15 weeks training to be a soldier and a combat engineer. His new Army life will take him to places and provide him experiences most cannot imagine. There is some fear, “Not knowing what to expect, or if I can handle all the obstacles,” he said. “Knowing when I come back everything will be different, all my friends will be different- I’ll be different.”
But mostly Ivan is excited, “It’s what I want to do. This is my dream.”
| Date Taken: | 01.28.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 02.21.2013 13:35 |
| Story ID: | 102334 |
| Location: | MISSION VIEJO, AL, US |
| Web Views: | 99 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Unconventional choice, by SGM Valerie Resciniti, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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