“It’s getting real now. I took the oath, I can’t really back out now,” Sedona Red Rock High School senior Jaiden Pallares said of his decision to join the U.S. Marine Corps after he graduates in May. He expects to be sent to boot camp in August.

He has met his recruiter regularly with his mother, Cynthia Elmer, who had to fill out paperwork for him to enlist because he is still 17, under the adult recruitment age of 18. Unlikemany of his peers who are heading to college, Pallares turned down a full-ride Lumberjack Scholarship to Northern Arizona University.

“I just don’t think college is really for me,” Pallares said. “But also joining the Marines is a way for me to be more confident in myself. I want to be able to provide for my family and protect them when I’m older. Right now I’m not super physically fit. So I don’t think if something were to happen to my sister, or something like, I’d be able to do much about it. I think if I join the Marines, I’d be more able to just ensure that my siblings are safe and they have someone that they can talk to.”

Pallares said that he particularly enjoyed his math classes at SRRHSwith Jim Vogler and was most proud of being inducted into the National Honor Society.

“Vogler does a good job of teaching, does his best to make sure everybody understands the material,” Pallares said. “If somebody needs help he’ll go one-on-one with them, and he’ll let you come in before, after or during lunch to get caught up.”

Pallares has not yet chosen a military occupational specialty but said that he was looking at jobs related to technology in order to use his math skills. He scored a 91 on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery.

“I’m proud of him, but at the same time as a mother, worry about him,” Elmer said. “But even if he was going to college, I would worry [and] have those uneasy thoughts. But I’m proud of him. I know that he’s making the decision that he thinks is best for him, and I support him in that. Whether he goes to college or does a trade school, or whatever he decides, then I’ll be with him and support him and be happy for him as long as he’s happy.”

“My family has been supportive, they told me to think about it,” Pallares said. He has lived inSedona all his life and is the third of six kids. “My uncle [Jeffery Elmer] was also a Marine.”

“I feel like I’ve just gotten more confident in myself since freshman year,” Pallares said. “I think, just getting older and realizing that I don’t have to worry so much about the little things. It’s not gonna affect me when I’m older.”

He said he was excited about graduating from boot camp and nervous about passing the 54-hour endurance test marketed as “The Crucible” that concludes the program.

“This is a 54-hour day and night test of endurance,” the USMC websitestates about the test. “It will challenge you both mentally and physically. You will be asked to perform on little sleep and little food. The Crucible is a test to see how you will react and respond to conditions of stress and simulated combat.”

“I want to be part of a real group of people, a community with a sense of belonging,” Pallares said. “I’m only committing to four years at first, but I think I’ll probably keep going. I don’t see myself leaving anytime soon … I don’t want to just get a 9-to-5 for the rest of my life.”