I Became a Model Cadet
Dr. Laust’s Comments: This student's assignment was to write a personal narrative essay describing an event that dramatically affected her life. Her choice of narrating her rise in the ranks of JROTC is unique, interesting, and very appropriate for the assignment. She does a very nice job of using specific details to describe aspects of the experience as well as employing dialog to accent her account. The reader gets a clear sense of the impact this event had on her life.
I moved to Slidell in the summer of 1998. It was a start of my tenth grade year at Northshore High School. I remember going to enroll the week before school started. I followed my mom into the school library like a lost puppy.
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I wanted to be an outstanding cadet. I wanted to give people the impression that I got from Wendy and Dwight. I wanted to be a leader. One day two weeks into the school year, I was sitting in JROTC class at a desk in the back of the room and had no work to be done. The unarmed drill team leader. Cadet Captain Jerry St.Pierre, came in, pulled up a chair next to me, and told me about his team. They went to competitions, won trophies, and were a highly motivated team. I felt like this was my opportunity to be an outstanding cadet. The following afternoon I showed up to practice. I met the team and felt a certain kind of comfort that I belonged there. St.Pierre informed me that there was a competition in four days, and that he was expecting me to be ready. I felt completely unprepared. I did not know all of the answers to the knowledge questions they would ask me in the inspection, my uniform was far from being perfect, and I lacked the confidence in myself. Nonetheless, St.Pierre had confidence and motivated me. That Saturday morning before the sun had risen, I showed up at Northshore High School in my uniform that I had spent all night polishing and tidying up. Every brass pin sparkled, every ribbon and rank was neatly aligned and straitened, and all dangling strings and lint were picked from my uniform. Every crease in my
The next six months consisted of me reluctantly training junior varsity color guard. The first drill meet came and I, single handedly, lost our team 20 points (a big deal since we are scored out of 100). Needless to say, we didn’t win. I decided to keep at it and give it one more try, but, I wasn’t feeling too good about continuing as the commander. By the time we were on the bus back from the second drill meet I had led my team to two losses. I was done, I was frustrated and tired. It didn’t help that Russell, the kid in charge of the JV military drill team had secured two first place wins, with perfect scores.
November 10, 1775, is revered as being the Marine Corps birthday, and its birthplace being at Tun Tavern, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Continental Congress met at Tun Tavern, to establish two battalions of Continental Marines, under the command of Cpt. Samuel Nicholas, as an amphibious fighting force who would later in March of 1776, participate in their first foreign raid, in the Bahamas (www.globalsecurity.org ). After the Treaty of Paris
The Royal Canadian Air Cadets is an example of a community activity that I have actively taken many leadership roles in. Having served the Royal Canadian Air Cadets for more than four years with the 540 Golden Hawks Squadron, I partake in various activities. I have also learned numerous invaluable life and work skills such as teamwork, leadership and confidence, all of which are not spoon-fed to us, but rather acquired from the experiences that I have been through with cadets. We are constantly coached and supervised by Officers who encourage us to lead others. As we age and climb up the ranks, we are encountered with many leadership opportunities that we are strongly encouraged to take.
The reason why I want to attend the U.S. Service Academies is not only the goldmine of opportunity I will receive of an educational standpoint including benefits, but also the enrichment of character and self-development, into becoming one of the nation's most exemplary citizens through attending a military academy.
“We want leaders that are tough, resilient, that can think, and out-fight and out-smart the enemy. We want them to be adaptive and agile and flexible. And, we want them not only competent, but we want leaders of character.” (General Mark A. Milley, 2015) Character is not a trait we take for granted and most likely have an attraction for, but honestly never had to define when asked about by our superiors and peers. It is a word most Soldiers desire to have their name attached to it, and yet the standards of its realization remains rather vague when spoken about. When the military say that a Soldiers is someone of good character, we mean that they may have many
In third grade I began my first official Sheridan sports team. I was now officially making my way to becoming a general; before that I didn’t have any idea of what being a “general” meant. At the time I was attending Thornville elementary and the majority of my friends at my school were just as pumped as I, for our first practice on the field beside the infamous Sheridan Middle school. The first few weeks of practice taught me nothing I wanted was going to be easily attainable, these coaches expected more out of me than I had ever been accustomed to. The bar they set for us each day pushed us to new heights we had only dreamed of.
My primary reason for wanting to attend West Point Military Academy and serve as an active duty U.S. Army officer is to become the best version of myself that I can possibly be and to further hone my innate abilities and unique skill set to serve my country to the best of my ability, and help make the world a better place both on and off the battlefield.
There was no doubt in my mind that Team Captain was mine. The locker room was silent as the coach read each name. Having had the honor of being a Varsity player since my freshman year, I was sure that my hard work would pay off and I would lead the team. Suddenly, it came out of nowhere and hit me. I stopped breathing. All I could hear was the sound of my heart beating. My name was not called on that fateful day. Coach had decided that this would be the first year a junior could be elected team captain. Did I hear that correctly? After the smoke cleared and my head was back on straight, I came to realize that it was for the better. I had pushed the rewind button so many times, it gradually became less important to me. I figured I had two choices: stay and play or quit and never look back. Not being captain has made me a better person. I love to play football. Learning to look past the small stuff and see the big picture has helped me to focus on what is important to me in life My football experience has given me the opportunity to be the determined person I am today. I have learned what it means to overcome
Joining the military was astonishing in very many aspects in my life and it truly molded me into who I am today. I will genuinely say that the most important people in my life are my mother and father. I am not a parent myself but I have had years to only imagine how tough parenting can be; especially when raising three stubborn boys. My mother and father are very open minded and kind hearted to everyone regardless of who they are. I will be honest here and say that I may not have been as grateful as I should have been when I was a younger kid, but that’s just life. When you are younger, everything is very simple and do not realize the little things in life. I had no other worries except for, “What’s for dinner?”. The military made me realize how much I appreciated and very much needed my loved ones. Travelling far away to Marine Corps Recruiting Depot, San Diego California and starting my very own journey was one of the toughest decisions at that time to make for myself.
Leadership is a personal skill that has to be developed and improved upon daily, just like an athlete works on his craft. We all come from different walks of life and that is often a factor in the way our leadership styles are shaped. Our differences of race, gender, religion, home environment, and lifestyle all have an effect on the way we are led growing up. It is a skill that is mastered over time, while never being perfected. Like anything else in life, leadership skills are often developed from who we are, where we come from and the people in our life who have taught us their knowledge.
We Were Soldiers Once and Young is a history book written by LT. GEN. Harold G. Moore (RET.) and Joseph L. Galloway. The history book is based on the Vietnam War, which took place in 1965. The Battle of Ia Drang was said that it was the battle that changed the war in Vietnam. The book is a tribute to all the soldiers in the war and for their great braveness, love, and care for one another. It was a bloody war, but very inspiring to read about the courageous soldiers who put their lives on the line for the United States of America.
It was a warm summer evening as I packed for Navy Boot Camp. I carefully went down the list of things I could take and ensured I didn’t have anything else. A little nervous I went to talk to my parents about my move to becoming my own man. I looked at their faces and could tell that although they were proud they were a little nervous about their only son leaving home for the first time. My mom tried to smile but she was proud yet nervous because I had always been her little guy so she was having a hard time letting go. After a short conversation with my parents I decided to try and rest for the long journey ahead.
Several months, I have been tossing the idea about joining the Navy. My family was aware about Navy was possibility option. Recently, I have contacted a Navy Recruiter, and I have not told my family about me talking to a recruiter. My family is important aspect of my life, so the conversation needs to happen sooner than later. When I bring up the Navy conversation, my intention would ease my family in acceptance of their daughter leaving the state. Joining the Navy would impact me and my family, and the impact on my family would tribute to the difficult conversation. In following joining the Navy would impact me and my family, and the impact on my family would tribute to the difficult conversation. Underlie feeling have huge impact on person’s attributions and judgement. A difficult conversation affects the identity of a person. Therefore, intention by the conversation was important.
I would be eligible for this occupation because I love to be active, and I was in cross country. I am able to run long distances without taking a break. My relatives were in the army like my great grandpa who participated in both of the World Wars. My grandpa used to be in the Vietnam War; he talks about it a lot in his spare time. My family has been in the military, but some of my past relatives have.The US Airborne provides excitement, education,opportunity,and competitive wages.
There are many job oppurtunitiesin the army. Anyone one can join and be anything he wants. In the army everyone has the chance to travel the world. The army has certain benefits and requirements. All of them will be explained.