Kaitlin LaBarca is one of the few, the proud — a Marine

Kaitlin LaBarca of Lynbrook can describe herself as one of the few and the proud — and the only girl from her Lynbrook High School class to enter the military — since she joined the Marines last November.

LaBarca, 17, was also the only female in her training class, and it’s easy to see why her friends and family members refer to her as a “motivational go-getter.”

LaBarca’s family is supportive and proud of her accomplishments. “She’ll have a good life — that’s all I can ask,” Pat LaBarca said of her daughter’s decision. “We’re all very proud of her. If her father were here, he would have been the proudest.”

Tony LaBarca, who was featured in a Herald story three years ago, died of mantle cell lymphoma in 2007.

Because Kaitlin was just 17 when she enlisted, her mother had to give her consent. Though her daughter’s decision made her a little nervous, Pat supported it 100 percent. “If I said no,” she joked, “she would have done it anyway.”

Since she joined up, Kaitlin has exceeded expectations. At Lynbrook High she was a four-year member of the cross-country and track teams, and exhibited mental as well as physical toughness. “She always wanted competition,” her mother said, “and the girls were never fast enough for her.” During her junior and senior years, LaBarca got involved with the high school’s strength training program and took part in a number of competitions, including Lynbrook’s Strong Man. The Marines seemed like the next logical step after graduation.

Last year, when she was considering her options, LaBarca said she weighed the pros and cons of college and the Marines. “It’s a lot of money to go away to school,” she said, “but with the Marines, you can go to school and have a job that allows you to do what you want to do while serving your country, which is a plus for me.”

Joining the Marines isn’t as simple as just signing up. LaBarca had to take a written exam as well as a physical fitness test — for girls, a 70-second flex-arm hang, at least 55 crunches and a 1.5-mile run in 14 minutes or less. “It was one of those kind of you-gotta-do-this-so-I-did-it type of things,” she said.