When it was time to leave high school, Scott Wallace chose boot camp. Scott, who grew up in Colorado, found an untraditional place in which to develop himself spiritually, as well as professionally—the United States Marine Corps. Now finishing a degree in graphic design at Corcoran College of Art and Design, Washington, D.C., Scott is a corporal in the Marine Reserves with a lot to show for his 22 years.

Would you call yourself a Marine who happens to be a Christian Scientist or a Christian Scientist who happens to be a Marine?

A student of Christian Science who happens to be a Marine.

You undoubtedly thought about what it would mean to be in an environment that some people would say is rather hostile toward spiritual values. You probably could have had a cushier life style, so what made you want to enlist?

I was a senior in high school, and when I was sitting in the lunchroom one day, I saw the Marine recruiter, who was a gunnery sergeant, standing patiently over in the other side of the lunchroom. In either corner of the lunchroom, I noticed that there was lot of self-segregation in the school, and it was kind of an interesting contrast. I basically was thinking about being part of a team, and I knew that the gunnery sergeant represented an elite fighting force, if you will, that basically took all these people from all different kinds of races and backgrounds, from all over the nation, and made them part of a team.

And so I just went right over to him and signed myself up.

It came on you that quickly?

I've always been a spontaneous person, but I had done a little bit of thinking about the military. It was an opportunity for me to experience something that was new to our family, and I took it as just that: an opportunity to gain some experience doing something that most people would not choose to do.

In my high school, people were putting on their fake personas and being what they thought was their identity, which was whatever clique they were trying to get into. And I just felt that the Marine Corps was bringing everybody together for the good of our nation, which was the bottom line, because that's what the military is all about.

I definitely thought about the bottom line, which was that you could be sent to a front line battlefield and forced to kill people in the end. But that's not what the Marine Corps is about. The Marine Corps is a peacekeeping force presently. So I made my decisions based on what the Marine Corps stood for and not on what it might in the end have to do.

The fact that you knew that they would be training you to use a gun, to kill sometimes if that were needed, wasn't something that put you off in terms of what you believed, or anything?

In terms of my religion, I felt that the Marine Corps stands for many common things, like integrity, justice, judgment, decisiveness, tact, initiative, bearing. These were all things that I wanted to help me in my life. I knew that they were going to be handing me a rifle, and I was going to have to qualify with that rifle, and in the end be able to use it in a fighting situation, if necessary. But basically, I just really felt that joining the Marine Corps was about the qualities that it stood for.

A lot of 17and 18-year-old guys would not have necessarily seen a recruiter and focused on something that perceptive.

Well, definitely, Christian Science gave me the ability to look for qualities like that. It has always given me a spiritual outlook on life, and I've always been looking for qualities in things, as opposed to just what meets the eye. And all the decisions I've ever made have been based on knowing the qualities I'm going to gain from something and whether it's ultimately the right thing to do in the long term.

There was a parade in Washington, D.C., with The Silent Drill Platoon, which is a platoom in the Marine Corps, whose specific purpose is to put on demonstrations for people. They twirl their rifles, they look good, they have the dress blues uniform, which everybody is familiar with. And I went down and saw this parade that they put on at 8th and I Streets in D.C. And it was just clear to me that the qualities those Marines were expressing were discipline and a real profound sense of direction. They knew exactly what they were doing—no questions, no hesitation. There was obedience there. And those were things that I was receptive to. I wasn't interested in the Corps as far as getting a really brand-new flashy uniform that you could go down and walk the Mall in and pick up girls. Most people would think about the Marines in terms of something that they could attach to their manhood. "This is what makes me a man, because I joined the Marine Corps." I didn't think that those were right motives. But if my motive was right, then it couldn't fail as a decision. That goes back to something I learned in Sunday School and something my parents emphasized, although they never made my decision for me. I always made my decisions.

The goal of the military—basic training, boot camp, so forth—is sort of to break down a person's sense of identity so that they can then build you up again, make you what they want you to be. How would you square that sort of an approach with the emphasis that religion would place on individuality and free will, and on a direct connection with God?

I know exactly what you're saying. In terms of identity, I felt that, as a matter of fact, I was getting more in touch with my identity by joining the Marine Corps, because what they were doing was taking away all the pleasures, all the material nuances that everybody thinks are of value in life. And they take that away, and they make you realize how important you are as a person, and, believe it or not, I thought that that was extremely spiritual, because it was taking emphasis off your material "items."

For example, when we first arrived at boot camp, one of the very first lessons we learned from these drill instructors was how you do not attach yourself personally to any of the items that you are issued. Everybody who's been in the military has their evil stories about boot camp. But believe me, it's something you get used to if you've ever been through it; it's not as big a deal as everybody thinks.

For example, they took our foot lockers, which were full of boot polish, shaving cream, all that stuff, and just dumped it in a pile in the middle of the squad bay. And they just mixed it all up. This was after we had already marked our names on everything. So they kicked that stuff down the squad bay and mixed it all up, and nobody knew whose stuff was whose. From that point on, you didn't care. And it made you realize that you're important as an individual, and it's your identity that they're worried about, not these material items. That was very Christian Sciencelike, and that was something I found that was really interesting.

In a sense, are you saying that you went in there more prepared as a result of having read the Bible, known God?

Absolutely. I was prepared, I think, more than anybody could ever hope, to go into that kind of environment, because I understood that the way they were going to be dealing with you was all mental. And the way you deal with it is mental. In other words, through understanding, which is a quality of God, you see that it's a disciplined environment. And you have to obey and be obedient to what these people are telling you to do. Then you roll with it, and things always end up working out.

If you check your motive, again, you go back and ask yourself, "Why did I join in the first place?" And you always keep those reasons at the forefront of your mind. Then it's very easy to go through a situation like that.

Mentally ... but what about physically?

I was prepared there as well, because I had always been into athletics: rowing crew in high school, running cross country, swimming for the swim team, things like that that I always enjoyed. Those things showed me that fluidity and being active were all expressions of God. I felt that because I had prepared myself mentally for those physical challenges, this was just another thing that I didn't need to have much of a problem with.

Has it been difficult for you to practice spiritual healing in the Marines?

It was very challenging. You really have to stick to the fact that your identity is spiritual, that everything that your physical body may be going through has nothing to do with your spirituality.

For example, when I first got to Parris Island, South Carolina, it was extremely hot down there. At that point in the summer, it was anywhere between 100 and 105 degrees every day.

Even though I was drinking water, lots of it, I was dehydrated. We were getting shots, and we were having blood taken, and when I was standing in line, I passed out and I was out for a good two minutes; I wasn't breathing. They had to do all kinds of stuff to get me breathing again. They got me set up, and all that is an extremely hard situation to deal with mentally. So your only hope is to deal with it on the spot. I ended up passing out again.

After that, they thought I was OK. But I went out into the hall and threw up. Eventually, I ended up going back to the squad bay, which is where we were staying. That's the big, huge room that you always see in the movies with the lines of bunks. So they sent me back there, and I was on my own.

Not only was I dehydrated and sick, but my drill instructor told me that I wouldn't be able to progress with my platoon, meaning that I would have to be rolled back to a prior platoon, and that I would have to stay on the island for another two weeks.

So I went back to what I had learned in Sunday School: that everything has its place, you have your place, and things will unfold according to God's will, and not your own.

And so, leaning on that, I felt that I really had nothing to worry about and that the drill instructors were playing a mind game, as usual. All the fear left. Everything seemed to work out, and it turned out that they let me stay with the platoon.

So you were lying there on the bunk, feeling not too good, and you were trying to think, or pray, or whatever. How were you thinking?

Things were coming pretty rapidly. I was really good at separating myself from the environment, due to the strength that I had gained in Christian Science. I was thinking about how God is what your role in life is about. I remember just understanding that there was a plan there that wasn't my own, and I just felt comfortable, as opposed to uncomfortable. It was very soothing just to put my situation in a spiritual light. My physical improvement was very rapid.

Once I saw God's perfect plan for me, I was able to move my thought away from that whole situation there and on to the next item that they had scheduled for us. I was able to get right back that evening and do whatever was going on.

How did you keep yourself healthy on an ongoing basis?

At boot camp, it's funny. If you got sick, if you had a cold, normally you wouldn't do anything about it, because if you got sick, you would be taken out of the training schedule, which would mean they would actually roll you back in the training schedule, and you would be shipped out to another platoon entirely.

So your choice was either to face the physical problem head on or just live with it. And that went for just about everything that was there, whether it was blisters or having teeth pulled. And you would have to deal with the pain afterwards. I had a wisdom tooth taken out, and I did rely on prayer to help me through that situation. That wasn't as big of a deal; it really wasn't.

The Marines are notorious for boozing it up. Have you ever had to deal with the pressure to conform in ways that you didn't want to?

Absolutely! There's a huge amount of pressure to conform to the ways of the Marine Corps. These people are the first strike force, and so they've got to be rowdy. This is the force that goes in to protect the nation on a moment's notice. And they take a lot of pride in being the roughest, toughest guys around. But in my case, that wasn't my goal.

I went to supply school down in North Carolina, and down there the things to do were to go to strip clubs or bars. That's pretty much the only thing to do when you're down there. Your best friends you have gone through all this with are now asking you to go out and have fun. It wasn't extremely hard for me to say no, though, because I knew my own identity. I didn't need to go out and drink to have a good time, although in a lot of situations, I would go out with my friends and just be by their side while all this stuff was taking place.

And were they cool with that?

Absolutely! I never really discussed my religion with them. I would go anyway. I figured if I was there, I could give support in any way I could, but, really, that need never came.

There's a lot of emphasis on guns, obviously. They're very integral. What would you see a gun as representing from a spiritual point of view?

I see the gun as a peacekeeping object that we are using at this time. Obviously the gun was invented for one purpose—a bullet is to kill. But I see the weapon as something that upholds the values of the Marine Corps and of the United States of America. It is definitely something that I think is important.

Everything that you hold of value in your country, you have to protect in some way. Right now you really need to have these kinds of things in order to protect what you hold of spiritual value.

Does one thing come to mind that you would say is the biggest thing that you've learned? Or that you've gained?

I would have to say another look on life. Another view of the qualities that I see represented in God, applied in a different, disciplined environment that most people can't say they've been in.

You also study graphic design. That's sort of far removed, some might say, from being a Marine. What interested you in that?

That's been a part of my life ever since I can remember. I've always been an artist. Whether it was chalk, pastel, oil, anything I could get my hands on. I was always creating.

To begin with, I had the talent as an artist, Later, I learned that you can attribute those talents to God, and the glory needs to go to God, and that if God is the ultimate creator of all of what you see before you, then there is an infinite amount of ideas; there is an infinite amount of possibilities. And I see design as just a way to implement that—as a way to keep exploring the infinite. possibilities that God has to offer. That's one of the main reasons that I decided to become a graphic designer. Most of what you can produce are just more beautiful expressions of God.

Have you ever had any specific situations come up when you were in art school where you had to pray?

The biggest challenge for me is being in the military and then being a part of this, representing both ends of the spectrum. I've got military training, and here I am as an artist in art school. And so the biggest challenge for me has been the social one, how I can find a common ground with people.

People think that because you're in the military, you're somehow not going to be able to socialize with them. And so that's been the biggest challenge—not being able to find that group of friends that everybody values so much when they go off to college. Finding that new group of friends.

And so my resort is going back to God. And understanding that your happiness doesn't rest on a certain group of friends or on certain individuals. That your happiness comes from God. And that friends are a byproduct of just being out there and just being as loving as you can and being as supportive of others as you can, and not thinking of yourself. Being unselfish. And those are all things that I've been faced with.

"If this is going to be my existence and I have the choice to make anything of it, what do I want to do with it?" That's exactly the question I asked myself when I was in high school. And Christian Science had given me that vision to step back and look at the bigger picture and ask, What am I really aiming for here? Is it just a particular job that will get me a good paycheck and that will land me in a nice, comfortable little city with your standard way of living? And then have somebody else tell me whether that's comfortable or not?

I didn't want that. I wanted to be able to say, "I've done what I've wanted to do." And so, when I was in high school, I did art, because God had given me the ability to be an artist and to create. And I also loved my country, so I decided that I needed to give something back to my country, which has given me so much in return. That's one of the biggest reasons I joined the Marine Corps, because I felt that it's the best way I can say "Thank you" to my country and the values that it upholds. In the Marine Corps, one of the things we learned is "giving it your 110 percent, not just 100 percent." As long as you've given that much, whether you affected people or not, at least you did what you could. Semper Fi.