Being a senior means another year closer into entering the real world of “adulthood” and the stress of figuring out what is going to happen after high school is over. For senior Dillon Block, his future has been planned out.

Block has been wanting to join the military since he was a little boy. It was something that he was intrigued by while growing up. He would play army games in his backyard with his brother and cousins, and was always curious to find out more about what it was like.

“I used to be in the navy and his uncle is currently serving right now,” father Doug Block said. “I think that really influenced his decision at a young age and I remember when he was growing up he would always ask me and my brother random questions about how it worked and things like that. I am really proud of him for committing to it.”

The process for getting into the military was not easy, but it is quicker than some other military operations. A lot of work had to be done, from hard copy written tests, to blood tests, to physical tests in only a span of a couple days, but it was not to be taken lightly.

“First I had to take a practice ASVAB (Armed Service Vocational Aptitude Battery) and then the next day I came into my recruiters office and reviewed my score and then took the actual test,” Block said. “After that I got to pick the jobs I qualified for based on my test score. Then they sent us to a hotel where I would go to MEPS, (Military Entrance Processing Station) where I had to get my blood drawn and physical tests done.”

Not only does he get the support from his family, he also gets it from many of his friends in and out of school. They listen to him talk about it as the time comes closer for him to enlist.

“Dillon talks about the military a lot when we are together,” senior Tyler Jensen said. “He talks about how excited he is to be in joining, and he likes to explain the types of things he is going to be doing.”

Choosing a profession in the military is difficult for some, but for him its simple. Before he could become the “real deal” he has to attend a boot camp so he could get a taste of what he should expect when officially being in the military. The boot camp will not start until later in the next year, so he has been counting down the days.

“My job going into boot camp is in AV (Aviation),” Block said. “ When I go to A-school it branches off into either an AT (Aviation Electronics Technician) or AE (Aviation Electrician’s Mate), but I will most likely join AT where you work on Helicopters, and fiber jets electronics, which I happen to know a ton about and it is something that I have always took an interest in.”

Even though Block has waited for this career for so long, he decided that he still needed to focus on his work inside and outside of school. He still strives to get good grades but continued to contemplate whether or not he wants to go to college after his four year time to serve the military is completed, or continue serving.