By DEREK LOPEZ

Sudan graduate, Isaiah Montes, is preparing to ship out in September as he heads to Boot Camp in San Diego, Calif. at camp Pendleton, where he will begin his journey to becoming a member of the United States Marine Corp.
“The military is a good option if you don’t have any other options after graduation,” he explained. “I knew college really wasn’t for me, I wouldn’t have made it. It never really interested me to leave high school just to go to a bigger school, unless it was a trade school.”
During his senior year oh high school at Sudan, Montes went all out and did every sport he could; football, basketball, tennis and even competed in one cross country meet.
“That was pretty tough,” he laughed. “I was also in student council. I just tried to do everything I could to make it last and make it memorable.”
Montes said that he missed their first basketball game, because that was when he was enlisting with the Marines.
“A lot of my family has gone into the Marines,” he explained. “I have a cousin, who has been in the Marines for several months and I’ve seen how good he has it and how it has helped him. He has a pretty cool job working with aviation.”
He added, “I’ve had several other family members join the Marines, and they’ve all liked it and liked what they have become.”
Montes was initially recruited by Staff Sgt. Angel, but once he got moved to Lubbock his recruiter was Staff Sgt. Elliot.
Montes stated that he did think about going into the Army, but after talking with some friends, he ended up sticking with the Marines.
He talked about the workouts they have had to do, saying, “It has been fun. It’s been difficult at times, trying to drop weight. You have to be a certain weight before you ship out, so it has been tough, but it has all been fun.”
Montes said that he is looking forward to getting out of here and seeing something new, something different and experiencing new things.
He talked about the support he has gotten from his family, saying, “At first, because I was so big, they thought it was just an idea, but once I started really working out and trying to lose weight, they realized I was serious. They asked me if I was really going to do this and I told them yes, I’ve already been talking to a recruiter and was about to sign papers. They said alright, if you’re going to do it, you’re going to do it.”
Montes talked about some of the things he hopes to be able to do after the completion of boot camp, saying, “They have a shooting team, where you compete against different countries and different branches. It is similar to 4H, but more advanced. You do cross country shoots and just compete, so I went with infantry and am going to try out for that.”
He talked about dealing with being away from his family during Boot Camp, which is a three month period.
“I can do it,” he stated. “Being away from family has never been that hard for me. You just have to think about the end and what you’re doing this for.”