Super Staff: Master Sergeant Reuben Urquidez, JROTC teacher
Written by Eyonna Mason, Former Student on Monday, November 24, 2014
Master Sergeant Reuben Urquidez recently began instructing in the JROTC program at Snohomish High School in December of 2013. After serving 22 years in the Marine Corp, he still continues to serve his country by better preparing students for a career in the military.
Q: When did you begin working at SHS?
A: December of last year.
Q: What brought you to SHS?
Well, in all actuality, when I retired from the Marine Corp, there were many opportunities that were open for me. I ran into a friend of mine that happened to be an ROTC instructor in CA and he had spoken to my wife...basically what it was was the fulfillment that he had with his students. I wanted the same thing. So when I got out of the Marines, I wanted to do something that was going to better develop a student to be ready for the Marine Corp or the military. It didn’t help that when I flew down here, the weather was perfect as well.
Q: How long did you serve in the military?
A: Just about 22 years.
Q: What was your rank?
A: I was a Master Sergeant when I retired. That’s second to the highest ranking you can get in the Marine Corp.
Q: Was there a JROTC program in the high school you attended?
A: I went to high school in Arizona. The high school that I went to was North Phoenix; they had an army program. It was something that I never really saw myself doing as a teenager and/or as a teacher after I got out of the Marine Corp, but it was something that my friend turned me on to.
Q: What is some general information about you?
A: I was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, and I went to college at Southern Illinois University, where I got my degree. I have a daughter. She’s 23 years old and she’s a schoolteacher with a Master’s Degree in education, and she teaches in Arizona. My wife and I have been married for 19 years. My career in the Marine Corp was 22 years. I’ve been all over the world. I’ve fought in Mogadishu at the time when the Blackhawks were down, so if anyone is familiar with the movie Blackhawk Down, it was very similar to that. I’ve been to Iraq twice in combat. That’s pretty much my story.
Q: What’s your favorite part of the school day?
A: Monday mornings. I tell the students, and I think it’s awesome for a teacher to come in and do this, but I tell my students that every day I have an opportunity to be in front of them is a pleasure, and the reason being is not too many people get an opportunity to do this, whether it’s teaching or whether it’s doing the ROTC program. I don’t look at myself as a teacher. I look at myself as one that is going to lead more- more of a mentor.
Q: What is your one favorite thing about teaching?
A: Heck, there’s a lot. I would say my favorite part about teaching is watching that student, although I haven’t done it before, from freshman to senior. I have had my juniors to seniors and my seniors that have taken off, getting to watch the development of their maturity, self-esteem, and overall concept of understanding the way things are supposed to be. Watching them develop into a better citizen, seeing that in the time that I’ve had them- it’s a great feeling. It’s like recruit training. There they have three months to make that transformation; granted, here we can extend that period over a semester, a year, or four years with them. Seeing that transformation and seeing that student go from point A to point B all the way to point Z, that final finishing line, and seeing them graduate and go on to community colleges or the Marine Corp- that’s an awesome feeling.
