Tough to the Corps: Teen Girl Wants to Join Marines

At her high school, 18-year-old Cece dominated on the basketball court playing against boys. She’s tough. She’s competitive. She can do 20 unassisted pull-ups.

“I may be tiny but there’s a bigger me inside this little me,” she said, adding that she wanted a career that combined physical challenges with helping people, like becoming a police officer or fire fighter.

The ultimate challenge that Cece hoped to take on was the U.S. Marines. She didn't consider it a far stretch to thrive in that male-dominated world. But her family worried about the potential hardships: extreme homesickness, sexual assault, war and PTSD.

A federal investigation found 23 percent of women in the military say they’ve experienced unwanted sexual contact. As Cece said, “That’s a lot! And the fact I’m small could make me vulnerable. I’m not going to let that stop me. I don’t want to see myself as a victim when I haven’t even become one.”

LISTEN to Cece talk with family about the real risks of signing up, in a post-9/11 world.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Cece on her size and strength

I have spaghetti arms but I work out hard. And I can already pass the Marine Corps physical fitness test. For pulls up, I can do 20, and push-ups, I can do 30 of those.

How Cece is from a family of Marines

My stepfather Max fought in Iraq. My mom says that when he came back  - he wasn’t the same jokey Max that left for the Marines. I try not worry about PTSD, not because I don’t think it could happen to me, but because I feel like serving is an honor.  I’d be enlisting for my family, to protect them. And that’s worth the risk.   

Cece interviews former marine, Sandra Garfinkel

SG: The thing about the Marine Corps is that I feel it’s um…it’s a boy’s club. I spent a lot of time as a woman…it felt like it was fighting for fairness. I wanted to do everything I could to not be seen as a woman, but to be seen as a Marine so I could be equal and I did everything 110% just to blend in.

The series is part of American Graduate, a public media initiative addressing the dropout crisis, supported by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.