An Eastern Michigan University senior from Brighton has been accepted into the Marine Corps Officer Candidate Course.
Amelia Jendrusina, 23, a major in history and minor in criminal justice, will earn a commission as a Marine Officer upon completion of the ten-week course.
Jendrusina said applicants need leadership potential in order to gain admittance into the OCC.
“They look at what you do in your personal life like jobs [and] what you are involved in outside of school and at the university,” she said. “They [also] look at academics and the physical fitness part.”
The training program, located in Quantico, Va., is highly selective. Accepted seniors train in the OCC ten-week course. Accepted freshmen, sophomores and juniors train in the Platoon Leaders class. The class for freshmen and sophomores is split into two six-week sessions. The junior class is one ten-week session.
Jendrusina said the Marine Corps is giving her the opportunity to further her education. She said she wants to work as a lawyer with the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, the legal branch of the military, after graduation.
“I want to use what I learn in the Marines Corps, put that on my resume,” she said.
Jendrusina started the application process when she was 22.
Applicants must be 18-28 years old and full-time students at a two or four-year college or university. Candidates go through a three-phase application process. After an interview and screening they go through a physical, background, mental and moral evaluation. Once they meet all the standards, their application is reviewed.
Jendrusina said applicants need to stand out as “more than eligible and qualified.”
Captain Nathan Harmon, the Officer Selection Officer of EMU and 20 other universities in the area, interviewed Jendrusina. He said between 30 and 80 percent of the applicants get accepted.
Harmon said students coming into the Marines can work in different fields including administration, public affairs, infantry and law. After one year in the Marines, more options become available.
“I think when most think of Marines they think of someone with a rifle in their shoulder and either storming beaches or kicking in doors and clearing a rooms,” he said. “Though that is a large part of what we do, we have a total of 25 different jobs a student coming straight out of college is able to choose from.”
Inc. Magazine called the Marine Corps training “the best management training program in America.”
Harmon said students will gain skills including self-reliance, responsibility, decisiveness and discipline.
“The skills they will gain will relate to the experience the Corps will enable them to have and the character they will build through that experience,” he said.
Jendrusina said her experience with the Marines has been positive.
“There are a few other girls who are going through the same process I am and it’s an awesome support group,” she said. “I’ve met incredible people. And everyone I meet, they're very motivated. They want to further themselves and their education.”
She said it’s a “great opportunity to further any of your endeavors that you want to go into.”
“It’s very flexible,” she said. “I know a lot of people who get a degree in something and they won’t necessarily find a job in that degree. But if you get a four year degree and you go into the Marine Corps, you have a lot more options to get something that you're really interested in.”
Students can meet drill instructors and learn about career opportunities like the OCC at the annual Bulldog Brawl at 10:30 a.m. April 11 at Ford Field. The event is free.
From 10:30 a.m. to noon attendees can experience a Marine Aircraft simulator, simulated arms practice and a Marine Corps martial arts demonstration.
At noon, everyone will leave the field as 450 future marines from 11 stations will compete in a fitness test.
For more information on the Marines, go to marineofficer.com or go to their Facebook page. Call their local office, 2144 South State Street, at 734-973-7070.
