Honoring Those Who Served
Marcella Jackson
Veterans Day Spotlight
On Veterans Day, we remember and honor the selfless service and sacrifice of our Veterans and active duty military. At GovCIO, we are privileged to work alongside Veterans in virtually every part of our organization. We asked some of our Veteran employees to reflect on their service and sacrifice to duty, honor and country.
In this spotlight feature, Marcella Jackson, GovCIO Accounting Associate, discusses what led her to pursue a career in the military and the impact serving has had on her life.
A Lifelong Impact
Pursuing a Military Career
My journey to joining active-duty military was one that I somewhat “fell” into. I came from a large family of eight and although I wanted to attend college, I knew my parents could not afford to send me. When an Army Recruiter came to my high school and presented what the military had to offer (a great career, good pay, structured life, stability, travel) I decided to sign-up in my junior year to enter on the Delayed Entry Program (DEP).
How do you think your time and experiences in the military affected you?
I love the phrase, “We do more before 9 AM than most people do all day!,” as I feel this symbolizes my experience in the military. I am thankful that, through the military, I adopted resiliency, discipline and the importance of being flexible. These traits are naturally learned in the military and are ones that have brought me continued success over the course of my lifetime.
What was that process like transitioning out of the military?
The process of transitioning to civilian life was one that did not come easy. This process took a lot of patience and leaning on family, friends and military leadership for support. Upon leaving the military, I decided to go to college. Being in another fast-paced environment where I had to use many similar traits from the military; resiliency, discipline and flexibility, made the transition easier and allowed for me to focus on my next mission – graduating college.
For those that are transitioning out of active-duty military into civilian life, my words of advice would be to think about what direction you want your life to go and have a plan to achieve that. The key to success is self-confidence and in order to achieve self-confidence you must be prepared. The civilian world is drastically different from the military, but embracing change and not resisting the ebbs and flows that will follow during this journey will be the key to your success.
