Fluent Essays

“JROTC instruction is unique in that it includes student involvement in both the teaching and learning of the curriculum.  How has your involvement in JROTC teaching and learning helped you prepare for future college and career challenges?” Include in the beginning of the essay  (WHATS TO BE INCLUDED) It was the Summer of my Sophomore year when I decided that I wanted to branch out into something different, to where I knew I could obtain valuable leadership skills and attended Basic Leadership Training. As I stepped foot on the campsite, a wave of different emotions hit me, I wasn’t sure if this is something I wanted to pursue. I freaked out and started to doubt whether I was going to be able to get through it, but instead of letting my self-doubt hold me captive, I believed in myself, my capabilities, and my potential and gave in my fullest in everything I did.  It was the morning of our second day at Basic Leadership camp and it was time for PT.  It seemed as if we were all too terrified to even face it. Halfway through the PT session, I started feeling sick, but I directed my mindset to I could, and I did. An unfortunate situation unfolded, and I decided to take the initiative and help my cadre. Later that night in the Chow Hall, Lt Aponte approached me and offered me the position as a Platoon Inspector, so I accepted it and embraced this opportunity that came forth. As a Platoon inspector I learned how to lead, and by example, teach others as well. I took everything I had obtained and took it back to my home unit where I then used my experience at BLT to set out to make a difference and get my team to do the greatest things. It has been quite rough journey but here I am as the current Chief Staff Officer of my battalion.  The JROTC program has given me a sense of home, a greater sense of family, and unity. With the support of my team and instructors I was able to open my eyes to what I could be and what I could do in ways that I never thought were possible. It has taught me that strength doesn’t come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decided not to surrender, that’s what you call strength.“JROTC instruction is unique in that it includes student involvement in both the teaching and learning of the curriculum. How has your involvement in JROTC teaching and learning helped you prepare for future college and career challenges?” I often revisit a memory of the time when I feel my life began to shift. It is my sophomore year of high school, and I’ve just been selected as a competing member of our battalion’s academic team. I am surrounded by people older than me, more experienced than me, and I am more than a little intimidated. But all the same, I knew that these confident, capable cadets around me started right where I currently was; eager to learn, and perhaps one day teach, the vast quantities of material we covered during practice. We began with learning the Naval Science 1 textbook. Sitting in a classroom and going over the textbook definitions may not have been everyone’s preferred method of learning, but for me, it was my first peek into the world of leadership and followership. I analyzed the text, ran possible interactions through my head, and asked the team commander and my teammates questions. In this scenario, what if...? I learned from the glossy pages of the NS1 book how to identify the aforementioned categories of participants. Then, in my experiences, I learned how to draw all the types together into a cooperative unit; in other words, I learned how to lead, and by example, teach others as well. That summer, my Naval Science Instructors had encouraged me to attend Basic Leadership Training Camp. The camp was relatively intense from the beginning; for many, it was our first exposure to a militaristic environment outside of school. A series of unfortunate events unfolded, as they tend to do in uncomfortable experiences. We were soaked with a Florida downpour that appeared out of nowhere. Our tents, having been left open to circulate some of the hot July air, did little to protect our belongings. Mosquitoes plagued us night and day, during the morning runs and nightly fire watches. But as it was, we were all in that same miserable situation. So, on the third morning, when everyone was either dejected or ready to mutiny against yet another round of morning exercises and a run, I addressed the situation. Thankfully, I had been able to lead them to choose the latter option. It was incredible how, through my admittedly forced optimism, I had led my platoon away from the gloomy mood and toward this shared feeling of accomplishment. It filled me with a profound sense of pride. After the conclusion of BLTC, I have seen those who I attended with at competitions and ceremonies. They expressed to me how they appreciated my leadership, and I learned that I had been an example for them as they returned to their own home units and shared what they’d learned at the camp. The road I have chosen for myself is a challenging one, physical, emotionally, and academically. My choice to attend the U“JROTC instruction is unique in that it includes student involvement in both the teaching and learning of the curriculum. How has your involvement in JROTC teaching and learning helped you prepare for future college and career challenges?” ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What makes a good leader? Is it fear or love? Machiavellians and moralists alike have been vexed by this question for centuries. Meanwhile, this question has been a point of great contention throughout my life, with my personal philosophy – being that a leader’s purpose is to serve his/her followers – oft times conflicting with the expectations for me to apply a forceful hand upon my subordinates. Throughout my years of JROTC I have grappled with this incongruence, and ultimately I learned to abandon my preconceptions on what a leader should be in favor of following my own path. Upon this unweeded trail I was met with dilapidated fortune, and the overgrown thorns of my opposition. Yet, with my ideology as a machete I pushed forward, never straying from my aphorism that “A leader unwilling to sacrifice himself for his followers is undeserving of his position.” The day was Competition day; the wind was crisp, and the only thing greener than the grass was our cadets’ envy towards higher performing teams. I was standing with my soon-to-be predecessor, whose pep talks had given way to projections of their inner melancholy. The two of us looked towards the Awards Table; on it I saw a goal worth fighting for, yet my counterpart saw an impossible dream. Both of our eyes had set upon the same 1st Place Overall Academics trophy. The most apathetic of leaders - my aforementioned teammate included - have become indoctrinated to the belief that whatever they do in life is utterly inconsequential. They hold to the idea that sometime in the future, the solution will emerge by itself. All order breaks down in disorder, and no problem ever solves itself. It is only through the work of leaders and followers alike that we may reach for our goals - for example, a 1st Place Academics trophy. From George Washington to Nestor Makhno, a true leader never fails to realize that they are a part of the team, not independent or superior to it. In nature, even the most resilient and beautiful of flowers could not exist without the humble worker bee; however, no matter how dedicated this bee is, she could not survive without the flower’s nourishment. No different is the symbiotic relationship of a leader and follow, wherein one could not possibly survive without the other. This I learned from my time as Academic Team Commander, wherein my own Icarian temperaments caused me to distance myself from my team and pursue a victory through my own individual merits. At the end of my sophomore year, I was given the task of planning and directing an academic competition; however, my arrogance