RECRUITING SUBSTATION MARGATE, Fla. -- As a child, Sgt. Raul Marquez never let anything get him down.Even when his parents divorced and he left his native Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico with his mother in 1979 at the age of 10.Even though the turbulent relationship his parents kept took him from Indiana to California and everywhere in between, -- never living in one place long enough to call home – he maintained his cheery demeanor.“I lived everywhere: Indiana, Louisiana, California, Florida, Illinois. Growing up, my parents always moved, going from job to job in different states. Sometimes I spent time with my mom, sometimes with my dad and it seemed every time I went to visit them, they lived somewhere new,” explained the 34-year-old Marquez, now a canvassing recruiter at Recruiting Substation Margate, Fla.But little did he know growing up, that it was that experience of having to constantly familiarize himself with new people and surroundings that would help him nab this year’s “RS Rookie Recruiter of the Year” award.“I love to talk. I’m very comfortable talking to people – give me five minutes in a room full of people and I’ll fit right in,” Marquez said.In addition to his experiences in childhood, Marquez also chalked up some experiences in his adult years that would give him even more to talk about. Marquez enlisted in the Army and left it after seven-and-a-half years to pursue a college education in Tampa – but he found himself wanting to return to the military lifestyle.“I got tired of college and I knew I wanted to come back into the military and I wanted to try the Marine Corps even though I knew I’d have to go through boot camp again and lose my rank,” Marquez said. “It was all worth it.” And once he became a Marine and dabbled in the small computer systems field, Marquez came to the recruiting field where his worldly experience and gift of gab paved his way to success. Since his arrival at RSS Margate in Oct. 2002, he talked his way into 28 solid net contracts and low pool and Marine Corps Recruit Depot attrition rates his first year – of which he spent only ten months on production.“Sergeant Marquez is a Marine of great leadership and unique style (and has a ) desire and hunger for building the Marine Corps with highly-qualified men and women,” said GySgt. Mark Johnson, Staff Noncommissioned Officer in Charge, RSS Margate. “His attention to detail in his day-to-day recruiting activities is reflected on his low discharges from both pool and MCRD numbers.”To date, Marquez has not taken any MCRD discharges – and that fact will surely help him attain his future goals in the recruiting field.“His ultimate goal is to stay out here and become a (career recruiter), because he’s confident that he could make a significant contribution to this (military occupational speciality),” said Master Gunnery Sgt. Leo Fraraccio, RS Fort Lauderdale’s Recruiter Instructor.Marquez’s SNCOIC couldn’t agree more.“In a nutshell, if all recruiters came with the hunger for recruiting that Sgt, Marquez has, then there would be no such word as ‘mission’” in the recruiting world,” Johnson said.“Sergeant Marquez has gone through his life searching for the one place in which he could make a difference – and judging by what he’s done here so far -- he’s found it,” Fraraccio said. “He’s not performing this way to get an award or a plaque – he’s doing it because he’s found a niche – he’s found the thing that he excels in.”With all that he’s been through – the seemingly endless list of residences, his lengthy stint in the Army and his time in college – Marquez has truly found a place he could call home.