Family Day is a special event where the loved ones of recruits are finally able to visit them for the first time in nearly thirteen weeks and watch as their son or daughter reaches the end of their stay in South Carolina.

Thursday, the instructors and counselors participating in the Educators Workshop at Parris Island found themselves surrounded by the family and friends of graduating Marine recruits.

Beginning with a "Motivation Run" down Boulevard De France, Parris Island, recruits from the 2nd Battalion raced down the street to ring the bells constructed alongside the roadway and perform pushups. Educators stood next to the families of recruits as they cheered on as more and more recruits performed this historic ritual.

The Motivation Run is a four mile run where the new Marines run in company formation from training battalion to training battalion singing cadence and ringing each battalion’s bell signifying their eminent departure from the Depot.

After the parading recruits ventured beyond sight, the educators were taken by drill instructors to the Parris Island Museum where they were educated to the past and present standings of a US Marine.

According to an Educator Workshop coordinator, by submersing these visiting men and women in the historical values of the USMC, and the life changing experience of watching recruits graduate, they will take back with them a sense of pride about the Corps.

"The best things I've seen out of the [Workshop program] is people saying we had no idea that this was an incredible thing that you all do, that we get to be a part of," said Cpt Alan Keith, Marine Corps Educators Workshop Coordinator.

One professor taking part in the workshop is a former Marine. Family Day, he says, marks an important milestone in his life.

"It was the most important single event in my life. It transformed me from a high school drop out and then a professor. So I wouldn't be who I am now if I hadn't spent those 4 years in the Marine Corps," said Terence Moran, NYU Professor of Media Arts and Communication.

Family Day, a crucial moment the marks the end of a recruit's transformation from a man or woman into.....A Marine.