I went into the program in 10th grade so I didn't have to take gym class. It's not that I wasn't atheletic, but I wasn't what you would call a people person.
The first year was a little frustrating, trying to learn the facing movements and then working with the rifle. I honestly didn't think I was going to make drill team, but I did.
I use to go down to the ROTC classroom during lunch because I couldn't stand going into the lunchroom. It was just too damn loud for me (I use to get headaches easily), and I'm not a social butterfly like some people.
So one day while I was down there, the Adjutant at the time asked me if I wanted to be an assistant. I said sure, and from that day on I was the assistant's assistant. As the Assistant S-1's assistant, I basically just helped enter merits and demerits.
At the end of my LET-1 year, I received the Superior Cadet Award for my LET level. That was a huge accomplishment for me.
While he was busy neglecting his duties as S-1, I basically had to do everything. The only thing he did was sign papers that needed his signature and give briefings.
That whole thing of me having to do all that shit really pissed me off and made me not want to come back to the program. I almost didn't, but my mentor talked some sense into me.
Meanwhile, after getting back from Summer Camp, I couldn't go to the first promotion board. But I went to everyone after that and passed every one. I never once failed a PromoBoard test or the actual Board.
Someone eventually said that I wasn't getting enough credit for everything I was doing, but I had never complained about it. That made me feel good because I finally got some kind of credit.
During Informal Inspection this year, I got an award. That made me happy :-)
For some odd reason, I ended up going to Military Ball this year. I honestly don't know what possessed me to do this though. I didn't have a date until about a week before. I wasn't looking too hard. But then, one night, I had called my friend to get the English assignment, and he asked me if I was planning on going. So, we ended up going to Mil Ball, and it was pretty fun.
Near the end of the year, I found out that I was going to be XO the following year. That surprised the hell outta me. So I went from being the ASS-1 to second in command of the whole battalion.
No one would talk to anyone else, and I was caught in the middle, trying to get things to work as smoothly as possible.
The good thing was that the commander and I were always on speaking terms, and we actually talked a lot, and not just about the program.
Rifle Team was cool this year because I made some good friends that I probably wouldn't have made otherwise.
I don't quite understand why, but I was liked by a lot of people in ROTC. Although some, if not all, of those people thought I was mean. But, it all worked out OK in the end, even though I'm going to college real far away. Lots of people told me that they will miss me, and that made me feel good, like maybe I actually had a positive impact in some people's lives.
The best detail we did was during my 11th grade year. We were delivering presents to Children's Hospital. My friend had her grandma's truck, and we were trying to find a place to park in the parking structure. When we finally came to a spot, a woman pulls into the spot real fast with her little jeep (I think that's what it was). I had to literally hold my friend back from getting out of the car to beat this woman's ass.
Well, after the woman left, her car somehow got keyed while someone held their ROTC jacket over the security camera. One of my friends tripped on her way back to the car, and we thought she broke her ankle, but we were all laughing our asses off. We still laugh about it now.