With eight relatives serving past and present in the armed forces, Michael sees enlisting in the military as a family tradition he is happy to continue.

“[The military] has always been an exciting option for me personally,” Michael said. “Seeing the guns, explosions and all that, I think it’s all cool.”

Michael’s relatives have served in nearly every branch of the military, but Michael has opted to enlist in the United States Marines.

“It’s the Marines. It’s the coolest, the hardest, the best, the most loyal,” Michael said. “[The Marines] make it out to be every little kid’s dream, and it’s my dream too since I was about 2.”

Michael said he was the kid who wanted to grow up to be a soldier, from playing war in the woods with sticks as guns to running around inside dodging sock grenades.

“Going into the military was always something I wanted to do,” Michael said. “So when I sat down to figure out what I was going to do after high school all I could think was, ‘If you love it why not do it?’ So I am.”

The Marines will be the challenge Michael craves. The Marines have a basic training intro course of 12 weeks, widely considered to be the most difficult basic training of any branch, followed by a stint in the School of Infantry (SOI) and then more schooling before being assigned to a post, according to the Marines’ website.

Michael will be attending basic training in San Diego at Camp Pendleton and will report for duty in September.

“I’m just expecting a lot of work at basic,” Michael said. “The instructors are going to break me down, but then build me back up, just like they do with everyone else.”

After basic training, schooling and more training levels are complete, Michael wants to join the Special Forces aspect of the Marine Corps. No matter what happens, Michael is honored to have the opportunity to be a United States Marine.

“It’s incredible to do what my family did before me, to represent what the United States is about, to put everyone else before me,” Michael said. “That’s what it’s all about.”