CAPTAIN SHUNITA TRUE
Shunita Craig True's pursuit of a higher purpose didn't end when she passed the bar. Read how she realized her calling by becoming a Marine Judge Advocate.
MARINE JUDGE ADVOCATE
Q: WHY DID YOU WANT TO BECOME A MARINE?
I was an attorney before I joined. Now, normally when someone asks you what you do and you tell them you’re a lawyer, they think you’re successful. But I wanted to do something rather than just be something. I wanted to know for myself that I was actually doing something that made me successful. That was a big part of my decision.
Q: WHO DID YOU TALK TO ABOUT YOUR DECISION TO JOIN?
Before joining, everything I learned about the Marine Corps came from my Officer Selection Officer. My teachers and instructors in school didn’t really know enough about the Marine Corps to offer any type of input. I do think it would be beneficial for students if their educators learned about what being a Marine is all about so that they could help them with their decisions to join or not to join.
“If I was a teacher and a kid asks me about the Marine Corps, I’d tell them about the dedication and drive required to be a Marine. You have to actually earn the uniform you wear, you don’t just put it on. There’s a certain level of devotion you have to have to do this.”
-CAPTAIN SHUNITA TRUE
WHAT WERE SOME OF YOUR QUESTIONS?
I just wondered why their standards were so much higher than everyone else’s. You can make the same money and benefits in easier ways than joining the Marine Corps. I was intrigued by that. I wanted to know why some people would choose this more difficult path, and the more I learned, the more I realized I was drawn to that too.
Q: WHAT MADE YOU THINK YOU COULD DO IT?
I thought okay, you’re not the first person who is going to do this and you’re not going to be the last. So there is a way to do this. I knew there were things I would be able to do immediately. I’m not going to be able to run 3 miles in 24 minutes initially. So I had to think about how to break down each element of what was required in order for me to accomplish it. Some things take longer than others. I just recognized that everyone before me was in the same situation at one point and had to do the same thing. We all have to figure out what we need to work on and incrementally we get better at those things.
Q: DID YOU HAVE ANY MISCONCEPTIONS THAT YOU NOW KNOW WEREN’T TRUE?
I had that feeling that I would be surrounded by “perfect” people. And that I’d have to be perfect in order to be a part of it. And it’s just not true. It just that you have people that work at getting better day by day. And at a certain point, everyone reaches that high standard because of the work they put in. It’s not that we’re special. It’s that we’ve committed ourselves to this cause in a way few do.
