My brother Caleb Hartman would have graduated alongside the Sahuaro class of 2023 had he not dropped out of high school in his junior year. In short, Caleb didn’t enjoy school – it wasn’t for him. He felt like it didn’t teach him what he needed to know for the real world. Dropping out of school was a decision Caleb didn’t want to make, but it was a decision he knew he needed to make. Of all his reservations about dropping out, disappointing our parents was not one of them. He explained, “I wasn’t really scared about disappointing my parents. I mean, what’s more disappointing? Staying in school and having nothing to show for it, or getting out of school and doing way more than ever and having something to show for it? Your parents can’t guide you to success, only you can.”

After dropping out, Caleb started working but was primarily focused on hanging out with his friends. That was until he found out that his girlfriend of two years, Skye, was pregnant. He confessed, “When Skye got pregnant it was hard. It was thoughts like, ‘I’m not prepared’ and ‘Why did I make these reckless decisions?’ But at the same time, the thought of ‘My biological father wasn’t there so I have to be better’ kicked in.”

When his girlfriend fell pregnant, Caleb immediately got his security guard license and started working 9-5 and picking up shifts in preparation. He said, “It was scary but I knew the initiative I had to take as a man and as a father.”

After some time working as a security guard, Caleb began to feel like his job was not fulfilling him. He wanted more for his life and a goal to work towards; his daughter was born and he was married to Skye, so he wanted to provide better for his newly formed family. So, in October of 2023, he made the ultimate decision to join the military and go into the Navy. Caleb expressed, “I feel like I was in a spot in life where I was stuck. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I knew that I wasn’t making the money I wanted to make and I wasn’t supporting my wife and daughter the way I wanted to. I knew joining the military would give me a lot – support, medical insurance, all of the benefits. It put me in a position to support my family and in a position for myself to grow and learn.”

The process for joining the Navy took about two months and on December 13th, a week before his daughter Ember’s first birthday, Caleb went off to boot camp. His experience in boot camp was challenging. He said it was really difficult emotionally because, in boot camp, you are expected to be very stoic and apathetic. He explained, “They don’t want you to smile. Nothing is funny. Smiling gets you consequences. Back-talking gets you consequences. They force you to learn respect and discipline.”

Another part of boot camp that was tough on Caleb was not seeing his family and the lack of communication he got with his family. He only had a handful of phone calls while he was in boot camp, and often he had to choose between whom he wanted to call – his wife or his parents. However, having very limited calls for a restricted amount of time taught him to appreciate and value the calls when he got them.

After a little over two months in boot camp, Caleb’s graduation was on February 22nd in Chicago, Illinois. Most of our family went to see him graduate: our mom and dad, his wife Skye, his daughter Ember, and myself.

“Graduation was like the moment we thought would never come. Being able to stand there and be recognized for the hard work we put in was incredible. I had an ‘I did it’ moment. It was one of the proudest moments of my life. It was like I finally accomplished something that I worked hard for. I couldn’t do high school but graduating from Navy boot camp was like my high school. It was my graduation moment,” Caleb explained.

Caleb felt like seeing his family again was surreal and heartfelt. After only having a handful of phone calls to get him through boot camp, it was weird for him to see faces again. He simply hoped that his family was proud of him, and we were.

Caleb only had two days to spend in Chicago before it was time for him to begin his work. After his two days, he was off to Washington D.C., where he will be working for the next two years as a ceremonial guard. “Ceremonial guard is the resting of any fallen soldier from any military branch. We lay to rest every fallen soldier who dies, which is every day,” he explained. After his two years in D.C., Caleb will go to Pensacola, Florida, for school, where he will learn aviation mechanics. After his schooling in Pensacola, Caleb will be stationed somewhere around the world where he can begin working on military jets.

In the upcoming weeks, Caleb will be getting 30 days of leave. During this time, he plans on coming home and spending much-needed time with his entire family. He misses everyone dearly and feels like the two days he got with his family in Chicago after his graduation weren’t enough. After his 30 days, he will head to D.C. – this time with his wife and his daughter. “I want to have a better relationship with my wife and my daughter. I’ve been away for four months and I only had two days with them,” he explained. Caleb thinks it is going to be hard taking Ember away from the rest of his family because of how close everyone is to her and how much everyone loves and adores her. Still, he knows it is necessary because his daughter needs to be with both of her parents and they need to begin their life as a family.

Caleb has had a full life since joining the Navy and feels like the Navy taught him more in four months than school taught him in ten years. He believes school is a great route if it works for you, but it didn’t work out for him and it doesn’t work out for a lot of people. He doesn’t want the people who don’t think school is for them to feel like a failure. He concluded, saying, “School is not necessary for your success. You don’t need school to succeed. It’s all about your mindset, how you apply yourself, and your work ethic. You have yourself and that’s all you need to do anything.”