Photo By Staff Sgt. Immanuel Johnson | U.S. Marine Corps Pfc. Julieta Luviano, a Marine with Recruiting Station Portland,...... read more read more
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At 18 years old, most people are worried about getting accepted into the college of their choice. For Marine Corps Pfc. Julieta Luviano, that next step entailed a search to join the United States Marine Corps and make an impact on the world. Pfc. Luviano who hails from Oregon City, Oregon, had to overcome a variety of challenges before being able to embark on her journey and step on the coveted yellow footprints.
The first obstacle that Luviano had to overcome was family support because they did not think it was the best route for her.
“I spoke to my dad about it and he said ‘don't think about the military right now’, like he wasn't very supportive and I could have joined anyways," Luviano said. “For me it's important that my family supports me.”
The catalyst that ultimately started Luviano’s journey was confronting her dad about giving her brother the blessing to join the Navy.
“My youngest brother was interested in the Navy, and he told my dad about it, and he was okay with it” Luviano said. “He told me ‘no’, and he was like ‘well, if you want to do it go for it,’ I don't think he actually thought I'd follow through with it.”
After that encounter with her dad, Luviano ventured out and contacted a Marine Corps recruiter when she turned 18. The first time she went to the recruiting station she recalled, “I was overweight, and I had to lose some weight.”
The Marine Corps places a substantial emphasis on fitness, and prowess. Workout after workout, like an artisan carving a marble statue, she sculpted her body into that of an athlete. She became capable of any physical task that was thrown at her, allowing her to pass the Marine Corps’ physical fitness standards.
Despite Luviano’s hard work and perseverance to become physically qualified for the Marine Corps, she was met with another obstacle, a tattoo disqualification.
“I lost all the weight I needed to, once I was over there I was good to go to join, and the only thing I was waiting on was the tattoo waiver,” she said. “It was disappointing when the waiver did not get approved since I was hell bent on the Marine Corps and not another branch.”
Even though she was denied a waiver, Luviano was determined and decided to start the process to remove her tattoo. Shortly after starting the tattoo removal process, she took a trip to Mexico to visit her mother. It was then that the COVID-19 pandemic hit full swing.
“I was getting it removed and it took four sessions, however, right after that, I had to visit my mom down in Mexico, right before the pandemic happened.” Luviano said.
During this time, Luviano was in Mexico and ended up staying there for five months, which slowed down the process of removing her tattoo. Life happened, and she had to move on from her ambition, she got busy and forgot about the Marine Corps. Luviano started working at a preschool as a bilingual instructional assistant where she stayed for a year and a half.
Around the same time, the tattoo policy changed in the Marine Corps, and she received a text from a new Marine Corps recruiter in her local area.
“He gave me a phone call while I was writing an essay for school," she said. “I was having a tough time at school and work, I did not really want to do it anymore.”
The recruiter was looking over the files, came across her name and brought up the tattoo issue.
“I said I'm not interested anymore in joining, college is being paid for and I like my job.” said Luviano.
Shortly after, she pondered the idea of fulfilling her past dream of becoming a Marine and decided to act on it. The entire experience at boot camp was surreal for Luviano.
“The whole time I was in boot camp, it was shocking for me,” she said. “There were times were I wanted to quit, where I was exhausted, and it took me a lot of time and effort just to get to boot camp.”
Every time it got hard, that thought of the time and effort she had put in to get to boot camp is what drove Luviano to success and made earning the title, Marine, that much sweeter.
Luviano recalls, “I received my eagle globe and anchor and it was a proud moment, I don’t know how to put it into words.”
| Date Taken: | 03.01.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 03.06.2023 20:34 |
| Story ID: | 439519 |
| Location: | PORTLAND, OR, US |
| Hometown: | OREGON CITY, OR, US |
| Web Views: | 36 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Joining the Marine Corps: Adapting and Overcoming, by Cpl Christian Bunch, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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