BCC students commit to serve in the military
Deardorff, Pesta, Garcia Garcia and Hitchcock.
Two Buckeye Career Center students were recently honored for their commitment to join the U.S. Military. Seniors Taylor Deardorff and Abraham Garcia Garcia attended the fifth annual All-Ohio U.S. Armed Forces Career Commitment Celebration on March 9 in Columbus.
The event is organized yearly by the Ohio Department of Education and featured guest speaker Lt. Gov. Jon Husted and included over 300 students from across the state. Each was asked to sign a commitment letter and received red, white and blue cords.
Deardorff is a senior from Indian Valley and is enrolled in BCC’s natural resources program. She plans to join the U.S. National Guard.
Garcia Garcia, a BCC senior from New Philadelphia who is enrolled in the masonry program, was thrilled to attend the ceremony to highlight his commitment to the U.S. Marine Corps.
“There were a lot of important people there that gave a lot of credibility to the ceremony. I was super excited,” said Garcia Garcia, who moved from Cuba to the United States in 2006 when he was 2 years old with his parents Zulema Garcia and Roberto Gordilla. “When I left the ceremony, I felt enriched with knowledge, and I felt very inspired to keep going in my journey.”
Garcia Garcia has dreamt of being a Marine since childhood. “The attitude, the mission, the way they go about completing the mission, overall, it’s just always been the Marines for me,” he said.
Garcia Garcia will begin basic training in September.
In addition to Garcia Garcia and Deardorff, four additional BCC students have already enlisted or are currently serving. They include Gus Pesta, a BCC electrical systems technology student from Carrollton who has enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps; Samuel Hitchcock, a senior enrolled in PLTW/engineering at BCC from Dover who has enlisted in the U.S. Navy; Bryden Doane, a double lab senior enrolled in welding and electrical systems technology from Claymont who has enlisted in the U.S. Army; and Michael Jarrett of the agriculture and diesel technology lab from Newcomerstown, who graduated early and is currently at basic training with the U.S. Marine Corps.