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Community Corner

For Local Students Set to Join the Military July 4th Has Special Meaning

Three of the neighborhood's recent high school graduates will soon be serving their country, through the Navy, Marines and ROTC

Tricia Pudowski, Bill Kennedy and Natalie Fricks have a few things in common.

All three are local residents and recently graduated from area high schools—Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences, Marist High School and Mother McAuley High School, respectively.

All three will celebrate the Fourth of July this year by barbecuing and watching fireworks, the quintessential American experience.

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Yet this July 4th will be different for them—this year, all three will honor our nation’s freedom with the knowledge that soon, they will be part of the United States military.

“As a child, Fourth of July was just about fireworks and now that I’m joining the Navy, it means more to me because I will finally understand the true meaning of Independence Day,” Pudowski said.

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Pudowski decided to join the Navy after hearing of her cousin’s positive experiences with it. She will report to the Naval Station Great Lakes for basic training as soon as a knee injury clears up, she said.  

She looks forward to becoming a corpsman, or a naval medic, and perhaps a search and rescue diver someday. “I’ll get an education and experiences I’ll never get in a classroom,” Pudowski said. 

She plans on going to active duty right away and taking college-level classes that the Navy offers.

“I want to travel and see parts of the world I know I’d never get to see on my own, and to work with the technology they have and be able to be on my own and mature from experiences I have,” she said.

Although Pudowski expects leaving her family and friends to be challenging, she has been physically preparing for basic training by running and bicycling with her dad. “He’s definitely pushing me to get stronger and be ready to be on my own,” she said.

Kennedy, who will begin boot camp for the Marines in California on January 6, was similarly introduced to the military through his family. 

“My grandpas were the ones who showed me the military,” he said. “I knew I wanted to be in the military since I was three because of them.” Both of his grandfathers are Army veterans.

He knew since the age of five that he wanted to be a Marine. 

“I’ve always wanted to join to protect my loved ones and my country,” Kennedy said. “The Marines are the first to fight and the toughest.”

Kennedy is not sure if he wants to pursue a career in the military but looks forward to this next chapter of his life. “My hopes are to be the best Marine I can,” he said. “I want to become the greatest warrior of my country through the Marine Corps.”

He predicts his biggest challenge will be to “stay motivated and stay proud because not everyone will respect you for what you are doing by defending them. My sergeants say that all the time,” Kennedy said.

“Since the creation of our great country, Americans are willing to sacrifice everything to keep us free,” he said. “I’m just really excited to leave and experience the world.”

Fricks decided to join the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) at Illinois State University, where she will be studying criminal justice and psychology, after much discussion and debate with her loved ones.

She missed the cutoff to sign up for the upcoming school year, but “when I talked to the people in the ROTC program when I went to orientation and I’m still able to join all their trainings and everything,” she said. “Next year I’ll be officially signed up for it and I’m so excited for that!”

Her interest in joining the military was sparked by watching a commercial about joining the service in the seventh grade. “I told my mother that I wanted to be like the woman on the commercial,” Fricks said. “She told me that commercials similar to that one sort of ‘glamorize’ joining the service and that education was very important.”

Fricks knew she wanted to further her education while also serving her country. “There was still that passion for it in me and I knew I couldn’t just ignore it. So, I did some research and found out about the ROTC program,” she said. “I decided that there couldn’t be a more perfect program for me—I got to do the service and get an education at the same time.”

She eagerly anticipates the preparation that the ROTC will give her for active duty. “The service isn’t only about being physically fit enough to do whatever you need to do; it’s also about your mindset,” she said.

“People see our government as corrupt and question why somebody would want to serve for a government like ours. Yeah, our government isn’t perfect, but really think about how much better off we are than other countries,” Fricks said. “We have freedom, unlike many countries. I want to give back to what my country has done for me and serve for all the people.”

This Independence Day, Fricks will be recognizing her freedom and the sacrifices of those who protect it. “That’s something you should celebrate and be thankful for every day,” she said. “I’m just blessed to be able to be a part of something like this.”

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