A Place I Call Home

 My parents drive me every day at 0530 on cold, ear piercing mornings to my high school while I am a pint size freshman. When I arrive, I circle to the parking lot to be the first person there to work out in the morning with the JROTC Raider team. A physically demanding team that imitates what a basic training would be like for the Army. Thirty five pound rucks that make your shoulders crumble in pain, wet boots from running in puddles, clothes that are cold and wet, yet you sweat to the point where steam is coming off you, instructors yelling and pushing you to run your two mile time to max in fourteen minutes, a pushup where you are screaming in gut wrenching pain to complete it. This routine of waking up early before school to work out had become a passion of mine. After each morning practice each member of the team would eat breakfast together, each day I could feel the sense of camaraderie increase. The bond that myself and my teammates had been inseparable, it felt like family. JROTC gave me the strength and ability to grow into the person that I am today in a comfortable environment. Each day I walked into the excluded wing from the rest of the school, I could sense the motivation, exhaustion yet hard-working high schoolers all at the same time. You could sense the discipline and higher standards that have been set for the Screaming Eagles Battalion and the cadets within it, simply by looking around.

The wing has been my home over the course of the last four years; it’s the place where I flourished, the place where I went when I had nowhere to go, the place where I was the first one there in the morning and the last one to leave, the place I call home.

While I adored and was ecstatic to be able to call the JROTC wing my home, it was significantly harder than I thought to be a part of the raider team. Going to such a high school with so many worldly opportunities, I struggled finding something I loved doing, since I was cut from the field hockey team, and I had played all my life. I had tried out for the Raider team for about a month which was one of the most challenging things I have done. The pain, the consistent soreness, and ability to fall asleep anywhere seemed to get the best of me when I was asked to leave the team. I worked aggressively to have a spot on the team. When I received the news, it felt like my whole world had been taken out from under me. I could feel the cold tears running down my face when I returned my government issued gear. That evening when I got home, I had made the decision that I was not going to let this define me. While my friends wanted me to go outside with them to practice our knots and pushups, I was curled up in my bed making a calculated plan of how to improve myself for the years to come. My plan had me waking up each day early and still going to the school while the Raiders were there. However, I was not working out with them, I was working out in a different gym.

After freshman year the progression drastically changed. My 102-pound self transformed into 115 pounds of muscle in a matter of five months. It was amazing to me how I was able to improve over such short amount of time. When next season came around and I was a sophomore, everybody was aching to see me back in my ACU’s, Kevlar, ruck, and boots; however, I thought I wasn’t ready. Since I knew I was not ready, I did what I know best and I continued to push myself in the morning and I worked for another 5 months during the season. Each day I would be sore, each day it was hard for me to see my team without me. Each day I felt left out, but I knew it was for the best. Junior year came around and I couldn’t come to see that I was quite ready yet.

Wanting to make a decision for myself, I decided that junior year I was going to continue to workout on the side and return to the team my senior year. I wanted to walk out of graduation and know that I did something for myself, I wanted to feel accomplished. Just from working out by myself I gained 45 pounds of muscle and reached a BMI that I was so prided on.

 Senior year’s season came around the corner just like that and I was ready, I pushed myself more than I ever have. I wanted to be on the team to get the Ironwoman award at the competition and be the best female out there. Feeling thrilled, I received the news that I made the team shortly after a month of being on the team. Not only was I apart of the family again, but I was offered a spot-on alpha team, which is compared to varsity for a school sport.

 As the season went on, my teammates were thankful I was back where I belonged. We trained for five long exhausting months and the competition came around the corner. The JROTC Annual Raider Team Competition is hosted at Shippensburg University by the ROTC cadets. I remember meeting LTC Morton and at this point I had not selected a college because I wasn’t sure if I was going to go active duty or not. He had motivated me the whole competition. It was finally my turn to compete in the sit up and pushup event lasting two minutes each, and two mile run. I never believed that I was able to accomplish something this well. I completed as many as I could receive a score of 300/300 and even went 66 points onto the extended scale! For the rest of the events in the competition, my team and I excelled in each one. Finally, after a long day of exerting maximum energy we went to the award ceremony. Cumberland Valley, my high school, had won first place in every event. I won the individual award, Iron woman, amongst all other female competitors, the 1^st place Female Award for having the highest APFT score of pushups, sit-ups, and the two-mile run. 

Four years ago, I was a freshman, I could not have told you I was going to try out for the team again, let alone win every event and receive the awards I did. This was a lesson to me to pursue my dreams, and work extremely hard personal desires, and it may indeed take time. After calling the wing my home for the last 4 years it was time for me to retire that and move on. After the competition I decided that I wanted to go to Shippensburg University to pursue my academic and ROTC career. With LTC Morton’s help I was able to piece together scholarship money attend school at Ship. I am so thrilled and grateful to now call Shippensburg University the place that I call my home.