Alex Noyes, a senior at De Soto High School, has a different plan than most seniors when ending their high school career. Noyes plans to serve in the United States Marine Corps (USMC) for four years once he graduates from DHS.

“The reason I chose the Marine Corps is because they came to me first, and they’re also just kinda the best at everything, especially compared to literally any of the other branches,” Noyes said.

Originally, Noyes wanted to go into law enforcement and not serve in the military.

“My family has a long line of Navy service, but I wouldn’t say that contributed to my aspirations to join the military. I always knew I wanted to serve in some capacity, but it was originally in law enforcement,” Noyes said, “My recruiter played a large role in my decision. Hearing his story and seeing what he became was inspiring, and I related to it in a way.”

Noyes has an eight-year plan after graduating. For the first four years, he will serve in the USMC and could be overseas or in bases along the coasts.

Followed by the four years of active service, he will then have four years of inactive service. However, Noyes might have to serve for the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) during the four years of inactive service.

“Inactive service is just a window of time spent as a civilian. You may still be required to serve at MEPS or something, but you’re not in any kind of reserve, so that’s nice,” Noyes said. 

During his inactive time, Noyes plans to attend college at either the University of Kansas or Baker University for some type of performing arts degree. 

“As for college, I’m hoping to attend either KU for a degree in music education or Baker for a degree in some other performing arts field,” Noyes said.

During this stressful time, COVID-19 has affected many senior students applying for college. For Noyes, COVID hasn’t had any impact on the enlistment process.

“I’m in what’s called the “Delayed Entry Program,” which is a program designed to either prepare young poolees [pre-boot camp Marine] who are still attending high school or train adult poolees who are awaiting deployment,” Noyes said, “The plan is to ship out on Aug. 3, which is the same time I would’ve shipped anyways had there been no pandemic.”

Once Noyes leaves for basic training in August, he could end up stationed in South Carolina, Florida, Hawaii, or Japan. 

“I’m hoping it’s Japan because that would be so much fun. Hawaii wouldn’t be bad either though,” Noyes said.

After 13 weeks of basic training, Noyes would like to start advancing in the USMC. 

 “I hope to get to corporal (E-4), but I think lance corporal (E-3) is more realistic,” Noyes said.

The titles are given based on how capable a leader is and not on how long the person has been serving. 

“The distinction between the two is not conclusive to time spent serving, but rather effectiveness as a leader, which is a field I most certainly lack at the moment, but things can change. The pay increase would be nice too I guess,” Noyes said.

As graduation for senior students approaches, Noyes wants students to know that serving in the military is always an option. 

“A life in the military is never going to be an easy one, but it’ll benefit you in more ways than you can imagine,” Noyes said.

Even though Noyes has a different plan than most graduates after high school, he shows students the other opportunities they can pursue.