CADET TESTIMONIALS
When I initially joined the program it was to help manage my time better. Now, two years later, the program has taught me so much more than just how to manage my time better. It was extremely hard for me to learn how to juggle all of these tasks, and at times I failed, but in the end this program has taught me not to waste my time and just sit down and complete my work.
I've also learned that in the company you are just like family and it's made me think of JROTC as a second family due to how much everyone cares for each other, and how we treat each other. JROTC has also helped me when I do daily chores around the house and when helping my mom with her daycare. It has also helped me increase my physical fitness and encouraged me to join a gym and get a work-out schedule that fits into the time between my school work and regular life.
We grew stronger in our brotherhood and at this point we had truly become family, we had built a bond stronger than we had ever expected and a bond that was truly tried by fire.
What I enjoyed most about it was the physical challenge and working together as a team. I also liked pushing myself to see what I could accomplish physically. I liked my teammates motivating me to not stop. It helped me be able to push myself further than I thought I could go.
The first and what I believe is the most improved attribute about myself is self-esteem…but ever since joining JROTC I started to believe that I can accomplish tasks like everyone else if I just put my mind to it.
JROTC does not just teach you how to lead within its own environment. It pushes you to lead in school and life. It prepares you for life after high school. It has given me the courage to step up and lead in all areas of my life.
Another benefit of the JROTC program in my life has been to make me a better citizen. The program has helped me understand our government structure and the role of the military in that structure. Specifically, it has helped me understand the value of our US Army and its role in protecting our country and its citizens.
Overall, I have learned so much from the previous leaders in the program and their mentorship, which allowed me to confidently enter the role of Battalion Commander and serve my cadets with success. I will never forget the lessons my mentors have taught me and the leadership they have shown me.
In conclusion, JROTC has helped me with my studying skills, memorization skills, fitness, engineering skills, cyber security skills, concentration, dedication, and so much more. It’s going to help me with almost any career I try and go into. Despite the fact that I am homeschooled, I didn’t miss out on this opportunity thanks to the fact that the only homeschool JROTC in the USA is right here in Georgia.
In LET 1 Class, Sergeant First Class Clements has taught me different ways to study. Applying these methods to school, I have found improvement in my work. A reformation shown is in math: last year, math took down my GPA tremendously. As of today, my grade in math is an “A”—which is a large accomplishment for me.
The classes in JROTC have also helped me absorb several, useful, everyday life skills which I have taken and applied in my own life. I am learning to think of others more, and know what it really is to work and be a part of a team. I have also learned the tools of being a squad leader which has built in me responsibility.
Overall, I have taken and acquired the knowledge of the education, and skills taught to me over the past two years, and I am very thankful for being able to enroll in a program that is ready and willing to prepare me for the future as an excellent follower, and a strong leader.
I guess in the end my life was impacted not just by JROTC but by the cadets who came before me and were there to council me and help guide me along the path to becoming who I am today.
I remember that when I first started the program, I did not have much interest in CyberPatriot. I had heard about CyberPatriot and decided I’d try it. In the end, I fell in love with it, and have been a part of it ever since. Now, this love for the cyber field has turned from just a hobby, to what I want to do for a career.
In conclusion, JROTC has had a huge impact in my life. I made friendships that I never would have made otherwise. It also helped me to be more social and talk to people without being extremely awkward. And Finally, JROTC has helped me to discover my career path for my life.
Time management: I have learned time management through managing my sleep schedule to afford waking up at 6am and being able to function. Responsibility: I have learned responsibility through my jobs and mistakes in the program. Supply room work, printing attendance roster, and miscellaneous tasks from S-1 and S-4 are all responsibilities I have had in the program. I have also made mistakes and learned from them in the program.
JROTC became the thing I looked forward to at the beginning and then again at the end of the week. The days were weird yeah, but our morning company time gave me a more optimistic outlook on the current events and just my current situation in general.
Before I joined JROTC, I let people walk all over me and I was never good at leading teams. I am also more aware of other leadership styles. It is because of the Cyber Patriots team that I became interested in computers and it is because of the robotics team I became interested in programming.
I can now grasp how JROTC has improved my mouth, heart, and body. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to start high school then with joining JROTC. I hope that the next three years of my life will take as long as they want. I don’t want to waste a second.
This program has given me is a sense of being proud of myself and my accomplishments over the last year. I haven't been the most active with JROTC activities besides coming on normal days but during JPA I felt a sense of pride over what I helped with during the inspection.
The first skill that JROTC has taught me is how to think on my feet…Something hard I had to learn is that I did not always have the answer to everyone’s problems. CyberPatriot and Robotics were the main things that drove home this point. CyberPatriot and Robotics were the hardest things I have ever done. I walked in with no knowledge and a bunch of questions. This bettered me as a person. JROTC has bettered me as a person and I expect to learn many more skills that I can put to use later in life.
Looking back at my JROTC experience I found that it has taught me many amazing life lessons. It has also presented me with many new opportunities and experiences that I would not have gotten anywhere else. JROTC presented me with a challenge, Raiders team gave me the competition aspect I craved.
Although I have been in JROTC for only two years, I have learned more from the program than anywhere else in my life so far. JROTC has helped me get out of my comfort zone, introduced me to new things, and has encouraged me to get stronger.
Because of my experience with JROTC, I have learned the value of being dedicated to your work, which is a skill I will use for the rest of my life in both school and at work. Without my experience with JROTC, I would have never become as organized as I am now, which has had a huge impact on other areas of my life as well. In conclusion, my experience at JROTC has impacted my life by teaching me to be diligent in my work, to be mindful of my time, and to be responsible in everything that I do.
I’ve also learned some things that I never knew they existed. Thinking maps is a great example of that. Who knew that there are like 8 of them. Also I’ve learned to start reading the word again. I got off track with that and then I started going to the Bible studies and that got me back on schedule. It’s also taught me how to treat the special lady in my life. I knew the basics of being a gentleman and wanted to show that to her and JROTC just helped excel at that. JROTC is also great because I got to take her to a dance. (Military Ball)
Before joining the junior reserve officer training corps I was undisciplined and didn’t pay attention to taking care of myself. I now enjoy taking care of myself and keeping a neat appearance and being respectful to my peers.
We had our uniforms issued out to us on the very first day along with how to march in step, what to expect in the JROTC and how to improve. What stood out to me the most was how there was no favoritism towards certain people, everyone was working together and improving together. Along with leadership skills, they also taught us normal life skills, like how to get ready for an interview, or to resolve an argument.
Being a part of this organization has given me something to look forward to everyday, even on the days where I had no motivation to do anything. There was always someone here to greet me with a smile and I have always felt welcome, which has motivated me to do the same for others. Colonel and Sergeant have impacted my life and the lives of my fellow cadets in so many ways as well. The program would not be half as good as it is now without them.
I was able to track my progress and see all of my improvements which only encouraged me to work harder. I reached all of my goals that included finally being able to do a pull up, doing more than sixty sit ups in a minute, and having my run time under eight minutes and fifty seconds.
The cadets are all fellow believers which creates an uplifting environment that encourages me in my walk with the Lord. Colonel who has taken the time to have one on one conversation with me encouraging me and helping me with anytime I need. Sergeant who has given me the motivation to seek excellence in everything I do and in addition to this the Bible studies in the morning that encourage me to spend more time in the word and dig deeper than I ever have before had been the most priceless thing to take away.
In conclusion it is truly impossible to put into words all that JROTC has done to impact me and my life. There is just this sense of motivation I get every time I come home from a day at this program, a sense that makes me want to be better in all aspects of my life that I have not gotten from anything else.
In the process, I learned more about myself and the people
around me. Then came my fourth year. After learning how to lead, it was my turn
to help others grasp the same concept. This year I have worked to help teach
the cadets how to lead next year.
Another valuable lesson JROTC has taught me is perseverance. During raiders and PT, which have helped me improve my fitness, I discovered that I could push myself more than I thought, and over my time in JROTC i have applied that determination to many things outside of exercise.
Since my freshman year I have grown, in many ways I thought I would never grow. Others I had no idea I needed growth. But JROTC showed me and helped me do just that. It taught me about America, how to be a good citizen and leader. It also gave me friendships, and JROTC will be something I will never forget.
I can’t deny I did hurt some people’s feelings, and I apologized to them. But in Jrotc, I've learned so much more about filtering my mouth because of the relationships I’ve built in Jrotc. Most of the time, when I do insult people by mistake, it’s in a joke or the heat of the moment. I still struggle with it, but not as bad as before!
JROTC has been a great experience for me I didn’t have much of a hobby before I started, and I had always loved the military specifically the ARMY and when I did join JROTC it wasn’t very easy I wasn’t a fast runner and I could hardly do a push-up, but as I kept going it got easier and I was more accustomed to it.
When I first joined JROTC I would not spend the night away without my mom. I was scared to leave the comfort of my home and was scared of the world outside my bubble of school and church. When I joined JROTC it taught me not to fully rely on my parents for everything but instead taught me that I can do things on my own and that the world isn't that scary if you know what to expect.
This year was different however, there was a huge push to meet all the standards and exceed in all aspects of the program due to the high importance of getting an exceptional grade this year. I personally had to set more time apart to prepare my uniform and clean them for the next day.
Before Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps I was very scatter-brained and I couldn’t really make any plans for doing homework or for just during the day. Since I have joined the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps. I have really streamlined my time management outside of the program and I have started to apply that lesson to everything that I am in and that I do. I have also accumulated a lot of resources in order to keep me organized and I wholeheartedly and without a doubt plan to keep using these tools and concepts in my life.
The big one I learned to keep at bay was procrastination prevention. Before I had a very hard time sitting down and doing work, but when JPA inspections rolled around the corner I knew I had to buckle down and do the work or I would fail JROTC, school, and probably my job.
I have also learned some leadership skills from being a facilitator for a service learning project and being a team leader in my squad. I have been able to apply those skills in my sport and when I am working on a group project. I am truly grateful for the skills I have learned in this wonderful program. At a day camp that I am volunteering at, I have been trusted with some more responsibilities than other volunteers my age since. My rugby coach has me lead the other girls when our team captains are not at practice since she knows that I am able to be a leader. Also, I have had people make comments about me being a part of the JROTC to others around them and it has left a good impression of me in their mind.
Cyberpatriot is one of the best special teams that the program has to offer. The diversity of learning multiple programming languages, scripting, and even creating my own virtual machine has helped me advance in my cybersecurity career. The future is all about programming and AI. They will provide humans with assistance for everyday tasks or even fight in our wars. This does not come for free, however. They will need to be made and improved upon as our needs for them to grow. The increasing dependency on these technologies leaves a nation vulnerable, and certain individuals will need to prevent bad people from hacking in. This is why cybersecurity is critical: the ever-increasing need for technology invites weakness, which we must combat. We will need strong leaders in the cyber field, and this, through the Cyberpatriot special teams, is what JROTC has prepared me for.
The excellent teaching in lessons such as first aid has also had an impact on my life. Because of the knowledge that I gained in that class, I was able to get my sports medic certification for rugby. I have also been able to improve my writing. Even in my college-level English class, I currently have a 97% because of this program. JROTC has prepared me for academic excellence everywhere I go.
In my LET 1 year I didn’t really fit in, but the field trips were still such a highlight; going to battlefields, colleges, military bases, and more; it felt like we were always going somewhere or doing something, which inspired me to stay in the program long enough to learn the leadership lessons later on in the program.
Since joining JROTC I've taken over as a leader in my youth group music using techniques I've seen our commander or other cadets use to teach and train others in my instruments. I have also used the leadership skills in work by stepping up as a trainer and learning to be a shift leader to lead others and help others at work. Hopefully, I will keep learning how to be a good leader and be able to step up in the future in JROTC and other work opportunities.