From the Marines to Medford

This is the first installment of the Daily's new weekly Wednesday series, "They're Going Places...," which spotlights exceptionally unique and ambitious Tufts students. If you would like to suggest a subject for an upcoming profile, email dailyfeatures@yahoo.com with details and contact information.

With a towering stature, large build, and fatigues, it is hard to miss sophomore Joe Goodrich when he steps into a room. At first one might be intimidated by Goodrich, a 23 year-old sergeant in the United States Marines. Behind his chameleon blue-green eyes, however, there is much more than a military personage.

"The word that everyone takes for me is intense," said Goodrich, who is the second full-time Marine to be enrolled at Tufts. "I can be really intense, but I don't mean it to be a bully. That's just the way I'm used to being."

Before becoming a Marine, Goodrich lived in the small town of Colchester, Conn., with his father, four brothers, and two sisters. Always known for doing "out of the ordinary things" in high school, Goodrich woke up one morning at the age of 18 and decided he wanted to join the Marine Corps.

A handful of Goodrich's older high school friends had joined the Marines and changed for the better. Using them as an example, Goodrich went off to boot camp at Paris Island, S.C. for three months during the summer of 1999.

At first, Goodrich's father was infuriated with his son's decision. However, once Goodrich graduated at the top of his 800 person class at boot camp, his father was proud. "The Marines helped my parental relationships" Goodrich said.

After boot camp, Goodrich attended various training sessions and was stationed in Japan for a little over a year. Before getting transferred back to the states, Goodrich traveled to Australia, the Philippines, Thailand and Korea. He later passed through Denmark, Sweden and Eastmore, in England.

When he returned to Virginia, Goodrich was a Marine officer instructor, training newly commissioned officers of the Marine Corps. In Virginia, Goodrich decided he wanted to be an officer. "I enjoyed the training so much," Goodrich said. "When I saw my students who were officers, I knew I could do that."

Goodrich applied for MECEP (Marine Enlisted Commissioning Education Program) and was accepted into the program. While applying, he had accumulated enough credits from night school to earn his Associate Degree from Northern Virginia Community College. All that remained was to choose the college of his choice: "That was a tough decision," Goodrich said.

Although Cornell offered him a full ride, Goodrich decided on Tufts for its location, size, and reputation. "I'm not a big fan of the huge schools," Goodrich explained. "At Tufts, people actually walk around campus knowing who you are."

Goodrich juggles a heavier load than the average college student. He is a ROTC advisor for BU, BC, Tufts, Northeastern, Harvard, and MIT and thoroughly enjoys his role as leader for ROTC students. "I let them know they can come to me for anything," Goodrich said. "And it makes me feel good knowing that I can help them."

Due to his extensive activities, Goodrich gets up at 5 a.m. on average every morning. "You'd be surprised," Goodrich said. "If you have a lot to do, you really don't even think about not sleeping."

Being in the military has presented social problems for Goodrich: "People are intimidated by me," Goodrich said.

However, intimidation is far from his goal. "A lot of people think we're just ground-pounding baby killers, which isn't true," Goodrich said of the Marines. "We don't like fighting and killing. We don't like war."

Goodrich does recognize that his Marines persona and college student persona do not mesh perfectly. "I come off as two different people," Goodrich said. "I am a little bit more serious and assertive in uniform because I have to be careful. There are always people watching. A Marine is a professional at all times."

Goodrich balances his military and school work with his passion for music and baseball. Since his radio internship with Kiss 95.7 during his senior year of high school, Goodrich has developed a hobby of DJing.

While working for Virginia's B101.5, Goodrich had lunch with Vanessa Carlton. Deeming her to be one of the moment's hottest sensations, Goodrich let his infatuation get carried away and proposed to the musician. Carlton flirtatiously laughed off the offer. "But I was serious," Goodrich said.

At Tufts, Goodrich has his own radio show with his friend, freshman Jason Sack. "The Jason and Joe Radio Show" airs every Tuesday and Thursday on 91.5 WMFO. "It's a chance for us to be ourselves while playing music we love," Goodrich said. "It's our favorite time of the week."

Goodrich is currently trying out for the Tufts baseball team. Goodrich has played baseball since he was a kid, and believes that the sport incorporates the main ideals of the military. "It's another form of leadership and teamwork," he said.

A full course load, military responsibilities and time consuming extra curricular activities may seem like too much to handle, but Goodrich is confident he can handle the load. "I've always juggled a million things," he said. "I've been told by everybody that I put too much on my plate at a time, and I do. But I've gotten so used to it that if I have too big of a gap with nothing to do in my life, I will find something to fill that gap."

After college, Goodrich plans to finish out his time in the military, hopefully as a pilot. He then plans on doing more schooling to become a teacher.

Marine? Check. College student? Check. DJ? Check. What's next? "Down the road, my overall goal is to be a Secretary of Education," the ever-ambitious Goodrich said. And as everyone, most of all Goodrich, knows, a Marine never fails a mission.