Carlyle Manns

	In their own words, 16-year-olds discuss the pressures of getting into college, dating, blogging and more 16 by 16 • Ari Rubin • Carlyle Manns • Caroline Cox-Orrell • Chelsey Knight • Janelle Norman • Meredith-Leigh Pleasants • Tia Whipple • Kelvin Bates • Lisa Bunn • Shukan Patel • Lina Li • Stephen Serene • Jullia Park • Patty Yau • Ana Baric • CJ Martino Getting A Head Start • The New World of Internships Those unpaid summer jobs are no longer for rich kids, college juniors—or even just for summer Multimedia • Sixteen Candles Inside a Sweet 16 Party

I am a 16-year-old facing the end of my high school career with no idea how I'll afford college. I have no job and my mom is trying to get a new one. Though I have good grades, I’m not sure I can go to college without financial aid. So if the military pays for my education, I would have no problem enlisting. After all, my father is a retired Navy policeman and my brother is currently serving with the Army in Iraq. So in a sense, the military is like family to me.

If I joined, I would probably become a Marine because I admire their principles of having a strong body, mind and spirit. But my friends would be against my joining the military because they view the service as an intrusive Big Brother.

I have spoken to my brother about why he signed up; the way I see it, he joined when he had to decide what to do with his life. Although this is my brother’s second tour in Iraq, he is doing really well. He does not tell me much about what’s going on over there, he just asks about the family. I guess it’s his way of protecting us, even though we still hear what’s going on in the news. At least he isn’t on the front, so I am grateful to God for that.

Before I was at this stage in my life, I considered converting to Islam because of the peace, power and prosperity it seemed to promise. My mother, a Baptist preacher, talked me out of it, though. My brush with the Muslim faith a couple years ago has had no effect on my belief that this war is a waste of the American budget. Overall, I would rather not join the military, but if they have an unbeatable offer that allows me to continue my education, what else can I do?

Carlyle Manns is an honor roll student at Benjamin E. Mays High School in Atlanta.

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