Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Thank you ANonyMs! That was definitely a helpful answer !
My boyfriend will turn 20 in a few months and he is currently a Lcpl. I did see that out of state intuition was much much more expensive than instate, so i'm not so sure what i'll do about that, I may wait a year just because I really don't know what I want to do yet anyways..
He said his command does not let Marines live off base unless married. So if I do go, we'll most likely get married, in a courthouse, keep it a secret and then have an actual wedding a few months later after we save money together..
Well in that case....
Be sure to take the Pre-Marital class with him. It is a requirement before marrying for most of the Marines at New River. It is a nice way to get started! Then take LINKS - it is basically Marine Corps 101 for new spouses. You can actually take it as a fiance'. It will set you up for success in the military lifestyle. And once married, be sure the Family Readiness Officer for his unit has your info! Best of luck!
If you do end up marrying him, as a military spouse you're able to get in state tuition at coastal carolina cc or uncw (those are the two I looked at, so not sure about the others, but I would assume so as well).
And as everyone else has said, jobs are very hard to come by here. I've been here since 5/11 and I still don't have a job. Granted I didn't look last summer, but once summer was over I've been looking and nothing. I have applied at many retail/restaurants and nothing and I have a degree and 10 years experience as a server. So def make sure you have savings to live off of or try and find a job first. Oh and I know a lot of wives who donate plasma at biotest for about $30 bucks a pop lol, but hey its money.
Funny how you call his statement rude, and then say this. Y'all both need to call a truce.
Havelock is ugly, and I'm a lifelong NC resident who spent every summer in Atlantic Beach growing up. But that's the nature of a "military town". It wouldn't matter where your boyfriend was stationed, the town is not going to be pretty. I think Havelock, and Jacksonville, are the ugliest places in NC.
You don't want to know what Havelock residents think of Raleigh beach goers driving through the town. Trust me.
I staunchly disagree that Havelock and Jacksonville are the ugliest places in NC, and I've been all over the state. North Carolina is a southern rural state with mostly small, run down towns. I do agree that military towns will cater to military personnel and will thereby not be the most picturesque or well kept towns, but the ugliest? Eh. I would venture to guess you haven't been on base to see what beautiful land the base has claimed for itself.
P.S. I would hope that the poster who was "lmao" about the New Havelock mistake was not actually laughing at *you*. It's just sort of funny b/c Havelock is pretty old and from what is seen just from the highway, it is pretty run down. So saying "New" Havelock is just sort of funny 0 b/c there is not much that is new about it! We all make those mistakes though!
No, I did not say "lmao" to mock Havelock for being "old and run down."
Her post was, frankly, very representative of the young, ignorant, tactless attitude you find running rampant in Jacksonville. I was just there the other day and coming out of a store I overheard a young military wife say to her husband, "this town just constantly smells like an ashtray."
Like I said, this attitude is not going to serve you well BUT you will mesh in perfectly with other barely legal Marine wives.
Well, I'd rather be young and ignorant than stuck up and uptight. Thank you though, I'm glad I'll fit in. Maybe I'll make friends to keep me busy during deployments.
Dear Taylor,
I've lived in Jacksonville, NC for just under 4 years. At the end of this year, my husband will be completing his enlistment so we will be moving to St. Louis... but in the meantime...
I've worked at one of Jacksonville's (many) hotels for the past few years. I can honestly say that the attrition rate is higher than I've personally seen anywhere else in the world (I've lived a number of places). A lot of businesses with 'entry level' jobs are filled with young Marine wives/ girlfriends (such as in your case and in mine) who relocate due to their husband's Marine Corps Career or leave work due to pregnancy, etc.
Subsequently, although it may take you a few months to find a job in the first place, as it did me (and I've got two college degrees behind me), the key is persistence, persistence, persistence. Even if a business doesn't have any jobs going 'right now' chances are, they will in a month or two.
Additionally, three new area hotels are opening in Jacksonville in the near future: Home2 by Hilton (almost completed), Hampton Inn and Hilton Garden Inn (both due to break ground soon). If that kind of work would interest you, I can pretty much guarantee that jobs will become available due to the nature of the industry, and this town.
The best advice I would have for you when applying for positions when you move here (coming from someone who's had a lot to do with the HR side of things, and personally conducted job interviews, etc).
-Make your resume as professional as possible. If you don't have prior work experience to put down, put down other achievements you've had in life, or any awards you received in school. Sell yourself!
-Come to the establishments in person to drop off your resume and fill out an application (do this even if they're not hiring). Make a perfect impression from the second you enter the business to do this! Invest in a nice business casual outfit (even if you're just applying for cashier or waitressing jobs). Nice pants/skirt, nice shoes, button up blouse, neat hair, etc. Chances are, when a job does become available, they'll remember you first.
-Likewise, come to the interviews dressed to impress. This may be Jacksonville NC but you have to distinguish yourself from all of the other young girls looking for jobs. In my experience, too many of them turn up for interviews in Jeans and Flip Flops. Make yourself stand out in a positive way!
-Be confident. Don't dwell on the fact that you don't have experience in interviews, rather, tell the employer how much of an asset you would be to the company. How motivated you are, how driven you are, etc. Also, no matter what the industry, tell them that you have ambitions to learn more about the company/industry- that it fascinates you, that it's something you want to make a career out of! More than anything, make sure they know that you're willing to learn
Anyway, I hope all of that helps. I'm sorry I haven't read all of the posts so I'm not sure if I'm repeating what others have said already or not.
If you have any questions regarding housing, I'd definitely be able to help you there as well. As your boyfriend is young I'm assuming he is a PFC/LanceCpl or maybe a Cpl. If you can find good room mates, sharing a house may be your best bet to start off with as young Marines don't get paid much, and the cost of living in Jacksonville is relatively expensive (not as bad as Chicago, but expensive compared to wages and the area). If you haven't already, check out lejeuneyardsales (google it) for housing opportunities.
Best of luck and wishes to you and your boyfriend!
P.S. As others have said, you probably won't love it here. It's a very basic military town. BUT it's a means to an end. Being close to our boyfriends/husbands in the service makes living here worth it!
Well, I'd rather be young and ignorant than stuck up and uptight. Thank you though, I'm glad I'll fit in. Maybe I'll make friends to keep me busy during deployments.
My husband deployed last year. I just worked a LOT, took up a few more hobbies, and spent time with girls from work. Deployments are stressful on everyone involved (including the wives left behind!) but they're manageable as long as you've got a good group of people around you. You'll be fine!
-Be confident. Don't dwell on the fact that you don't have experience in interviews, rather, tell the employer how much of an asset you would be to the company. How motivated you are, how driven you are, etc. Also, no matter what the industry, tell them that you have ambitions to learn more about the company/industry- that it fascinates you, that it's something you want to make a career out of! More than anything, make sure they know that you're willing to learn
Also, look up background info on the company you're applying to. Bring it up when being interviewed. It will show you've gone the extra mile.
I'm a little late posting this, but I really liked Jacksonville and Lejeune. I lived there for a few months when my husband and I first got married, but moved back home when he deployed. (saved a good bit of money doing this). Then I moved back 2 months before he got back to get a different house and get everything together.
Our first home were in some apartments off of Piney Green Rd (for the life of me I cannot remember the name), and they were decent for a newly married couple, however they didn't allow pet. We payed $700 for those. The owner of the apartments is very nice, but I wouldn't live there again. There is a little creek that runs behind the apartments and we were informed that it doesn't flood during tropical storms and hurricanes, but in September (?) of 2010 it did flood pretty badly and they had to restore almost all of that apartments. However, I think a good bit of Jacksonville flooded then. I also wouldn't live there again because they don't allow pets of any sort.
Our second home was in a subdivision by New River, and this place was nice, but since it was a newer home in a newer subdivision we payed more than $700 for it, but it was still affordable (most places in Jacksonville are). If you decided to live closer to Lejeune as opposed to New River and your boyfriend decides to stay with you he will have to leave earlier in the morning due to traffic to get to work.
There really isn't too much to do in Jacksonville, but Wilmington is about 45 minutes to an hour away. The Raleigh area is about 2 hours away, which isn't bad if you want to make a weekend trip to the area. Jacksonville has a mall, but honestly there isn't much in it. However, there are probably some retail jobs open in the mall. There are several restaurants in the area. If you like sushi, I recommend trying Shoguns.
At times its pretty congested, especially during the hours that most Marines are getting off of work.
As far as jobs are concerned, I'm not sure how easy it will be for you to find a job. Since you don't have any experience you could put in applications at the stores in the mall or some restaurants. If you are up to Jacksonville offers a Real Estate school and once you finish with that you might have a pretty good chance of finding a job in real estate and property management.
We just left the area in January and are now at a duty station, but I really do miss Jacksonville and Lejeune. Feel free to send me a message if you have questions at all regarding the area.
I plan on moving to Jacksonville nc with my three kids next week can somebody please tell me if that's a good idea.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
!
