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Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point

Cherry Point, North Carolina
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Cherry Point service members inspire students during career day

By Cpl. Andrea Cleopatra Dickerson | | March 3, 2013

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Although they knew it was career day at school, the students at Graham A. Barden Elementary School had no idea who they were going to meet.

“I want to be a scientist when I grow up,” said one student.

“I want to be a Marine,” another chimed in.

 Four local service members, along with civil servants, emergency responders and a host of others filed into the school with the tools of their trades Friday to give the children a taste of what it is they do on a day-to-day basis.

“At this age most of the children don’t have hands-on experience with career options that are available to them,” said Kim Loucks, school counselor and career day coordinator. “I could hear kids talking in the hallways about how excited they were to see the Marines.”

Loucks said a lot of the children are able to relate to service members who participated due to the large number of military families represented among the students. They were eager to talk about their parents’ jobs.

“I really enjoyed talking to the kids,” said Sgt. Nathan M. Lineback, the hazardous control center non-commissioned officer in charge with Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 14. “We talked about everything you can think of, from what my ribbons and badges mean to how to become a Marine. It was great because they asked a lot of questions.”

Those sentiments were echoed by Lineback’s fellow Cherry Point volunteers Petty Officer 1st Class Nasiem Hawashem, a hospital corpsman with Naval Health Clinic Cherry Point; Petty Officer 2nd Class Joy Edwards, a logistics specialist with Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron; and Cpl. Andrea Dickerson, a combat correspondent with the Joint Public Affairs Office.

It was evident by the smiles on their faces that most of the students enjoyed the visitors’ presentations.

 “We could not have done this without the help of all the volunteers, especially the service members,” said Loucks. “Career day was a success thanks to them. It was great to have their presence as role models.”


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