CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (KGTV) -- On day two of their boot camp experience, a group of teachers hit a shooting range at Camp Pendleton.
San Diego teacher Linda Hernandez told ABC 10news that she can see how this builds confidence within the recruits. She also said the entire experience has dispelled misconceptions she’s had about the military.
For Hernandez, a special education teacher at Patrick Henry High School, it was her first time picking up the same rifles recruits learned to fire.
“You hear from people who’ve retired or people who’ve joined, their experience, and literally being able to be here and experience it myself is a whole different experience,” Hernandez said.
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Like a recruit, Hernandez went step by step in transforming into a Marine.
She arrived to drill instructors, participated in fitness tests, and then learned how to handle a rifle.
“I believed that you just come to the military and sometimes they just send you to war or they just, drill, drill, drill," she said.
Instead, Hernandez said she was able to see the camaraderie and teamwork that makes up the Corps firsthand.
“People come from different environments, so them coming here, they get to learn more about themselves. To see what it is to be a Marine and to just build a family," she said.
The educator's workshop is offered a couple of times per year in San Diego.
