Marine Military Academy - Review #1

The Marine Corps aspect of the Academy set me up for life and is the reason I will soon be commissioning as an officer in the Corps. The presence of the Drill Instructors in the barracks set the foundation and the cadet leadership is what truly led to success.

The friends I made and the GPA improvment from around a 2.0 to a 3.4 at the lowest and 2 semesters with a 4.0. The grade boost probably changed the direction of my life and is the only reason I am where I am.

I wish I had gone my Freshman year and spent all 4 years at MMA. It is easy to make friends that last a lifetime but the longer you're there the closer the friendships. I recommend the summer camp first and then all 4 years. At that age it is difficult, after summer camp I wanted nothing to do with the school, however, my parents made me see through my first year and then gave me the offer to go back to public school and live at home. I said no so fast I could make your head spin, nothing could've taken me out of there.

The friends I made were the best thing that came from the Academy and mean more to me than anything.

Watch the sunsets, get into weightlifting, and do your best to be an officer by senior year and teach summer camp.

The hands-on help from the teachers was fantastic and the CCQ during the evening helped with academics. If you miss an assignment you are PT-ed and won't miss another. The coursework never superseded what can be expected from a typical high school and in combination with the military aspect it keep me busy my entire time.

Since it's a small school our sports teams were never state champions but I can guarantee that any athlete who graduated from MMA could get scholarships to play for colleges of their choice. There is always room on any team you wish to try for and the coaches and other teammates are amazing.

Aside from all the volunteer groups and sports teams, there weren't many other organizations. You're busy enough with what they have.

Rooming with your best friend and being connected by the bathroom to two more is some of the most fun any kid can have and even as an adult I find myself thinking about all the fun I had as private and as an officer.

Food gets better the longer you're there. By senior year you can get almost whatever you'd like from the wonderful people in the mess hall.

Harlingen is absolutely gorgeous and the sunsets are some of the most amazing in the entire nation. However, the city itself isn't. Off-campus is nice but nowhere to take a vacation to, but since leaving is only on the weekends it has everything you would need.

The friends I made in my years at MMA will last a lifetime, I'm going to be the best man at one friend's wedding next year and I am in a group chat of the other staff members from my senior year in Echo and we meet up once a year when everyone is back from deployments in either the Corps or Army.