SWFL teen blazing a trail as she heads off to marine boot camp

It’s been a wild weekend for Kimberly Gamero. She got engaged to her boyfriend of five years on Friday, she graduated from Dunbar High School on Saturday, and now she’s leaving Fort Myers in camo gear.

Local graduate the only woman heading to marine boot camp from SWFL

“Today I leave for boot camp. Definitely sad because I’m leaving my family, but overall happy that I’m going to embark on a chapter of my life that I’m going to be doing something,” Gamero said.

The Fort Myers native got dropped off at the Marine Recruitment office joined by her fiance who is also a marine.

“The hardest part is you can’t give up, you can’t quit. It’s not a nine to five job. It’s a 24 hour thing,” said her fiance, Jose Estrada.

On Saturday, Gamero was spotlighted at her graduation ceremony as the only woman leaving for marine boot camp from SWFL. She says the next three months there will be a challenge, but it will be worth it in the end.

“I’ve seen people can’t even explain the words that they feel when they do become a marine. And how society sees them—they’re the most elite fighting force,” Gamero said.

The 18-year-old hopes the challenges accomplished and accepted this weekend will motivate others to embark on similar journeys.

But for women in particular, Gamero has a message.

“Not to give up. Even when people tell them you’re a girl, you can’t do anything. You can do anything you put your mind to. If you want it, you can go get it. Anything is possible,” she said.

Gamero will finish boot camp in August. As for her wedding, she says it will happen in 2021, but there’s no set date just yet.

View photos from the proposal below.