While many people are unsure of what they want to do when they graduate, senior Kevin Wright has had his life planned out since middle school.
Wright has wanted to go into the military for years after hearing his great-grandfather’s stories from his experience in both the Army and the Air Force.
“I do ROTC because my great-grandfather had told me about his service and his life and everything he’s done, and that inspired me to go into the service,” Wright said.
ROTC stands for Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. It is a class taken by students with the intention of going into the military after high school, as it teaches you the physical aspects of serving as well as the certain core values such as integrity, responsibility and respect.
In order for Wright to participate in this program he must attend class at Green High School which is 20 minutes away from GlenOak High School.
Wright has climbed the ranks in ROTC since he started in his sophomore year. He went from sitting on the bench for the drill team in his sophomore year, to being on the JV drill team his junior year, and now being on the Varsity drill team for his last year in the program.
“My job title in ROTC is kind of a Command Spot. I’m second in command of my group,” Wright said. “My job is to make sure that we’re giving 100% of what we can to each of our jobs.”
ROTC is a commitment. It can take anywhere from five to ten hours a week, and it’s not easy work according to Wright. ROTC takes place for an hour every morning, Monday through Friday, and cadets often need to go in after school on Friday or during the day on Saturday. They work on drills and compete in competition for these drills.
When he started ROTC, Wright gave up track and field, which he tried out for in his freshman year.
“I didn’t give up track because ROTC took up that time; I just didn’t want to do both at the same time,” Wright said.
While it is a commitment to drive 20 minutes to class each day and attend after school practices, Wright believes ROTC helps boost students’ confidence significantly. The people in ROTC are kind and supportive, and nobody is deemed “weird” when they are there. They are just seen as themselves, regardless of how people act towards them in other settings.
“My favorite part of ROTC is going in everyday. You can go in there with a horrible attitude, not having a good day at all, and you’ll leave with a great attitude and a smile on your face,” Wright said. “You’ll learn very quickly that there’s no difference in race, no difference in gender, you guys will work together and you’ll build something strong.”
Although ROTC seems as though it would be incredibly difficult, Wright finds it to be pretty easy for the most part, saying that the hardest part of the class is the writing portion, not so much the physical strains. According to Wright, doing well in ROTC is all about your mindset.
“You can do whatever you want, you just have to be willing to push yourself to do it,” Wright said.
In June, Wright’s team placed second at Nationals for drill team. Wright hopes to repeat the same success this school year.