Alicia Swartz
The day I came home from high school and announced to my family that I wanted to serve in the military, I received a silent response of shock and almost disappointment. No one in my family had ever been in the military, with the exception of my grandfather who was drafted. My mother could not believe I would ever want to put myself in such a stressful environment and give up other opportunities, which were certain to come my way. At the beginning, I did not have a great pool of support from my family. I however, had a different view about the military and joining Air Force ROTC. I looked at this option as a door that could open so many possibilities and opportunities and provide guidance as a college student. It was probably one of the best decisions of my young adult life, and the biggest contributor to my personal successes.
Success is measured in many different ways to every person. It is defined as the accomplishment of an aim or purpose. I truly believe wholeheartedly in the quote "Success doesn't come to you, you go to it." Marva Collins. I believe the lessons and skills I have learned in the Air Force ROTC have helped me gain success in two major areas of my life where I had to go out a grab it because it wasn't handed to me. The first would definitely be success in the classroom as a college student.
Coming from a small high school in New Albany, Mississippi, I was an effortless straight A, overly involved student. I thought college would be the same way. I was so wrong. Classes were hard and it was almost as if I was starting all over again in academics. If I did not have AFROTC in my life at the time, I am almost certain I would have plunged the wrong way and came out on bottom; but I didn't. I learned to use the skills that Air Force ROTC taught me and apply them to all aspects of my life, especially in academics. I learned to manage my time wisely and utilize all available resources if I ran into a problem. AFROTC was my saving grace and I am now a Dean's list recipient and an invitation to the National Honors Fraternity. The skills I learned through the Air Force helped me succeed in the classroom.
The second area the AFROTC has helped me achieve success in would be in Physical Fitness. My freshman year I came in barely making the minimums of push-ups, sit-ups and had a 13:30 mile and a half run time. I wanted to do better and with the help of morning PT's and the motivation of everyone around me; I had the willpower to do something about my scores. I began working out on my own and even used a former AF enlisted Airman's guide of cutting time off my run. I now always max the push-ups and sit-ups and my most recent run time was 11:23, not too far away from the max time of 11:06.
I didn't just stop there with my training. All this success has pushed me to give back any way I can. I have recently joined Team in Training, which is a part of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I am in the process of raising money and getting sponsors in order to donate it all and run in the St Louis Marathon in honor of several patients who our money will help fight this terrible cancer.
Another thing that is really rewarding to me is being able to help out younger cadets who are struggling with Physical Fitness just as I was when I was in their place. I have offered to do the same training program I used with some of the younger female cadets to help them increase their Physical Fitness Assessment scores. I have only had single digit interest so far, but I think it is great that I can help motivate other cadets better themselves physically and boost their confidence to be able to better serve our country as Air Force Officers.
I also believe that the Air Force has given me skills that will help me become a better Officer one I commission in one and a half years. I have learned and am still learning the organization skills, people skills, leadership skills and so much more that will enable me to be a great asset to our Air Force in whatever career field I end up in.
I know I will have to leave room for mistakes and personal failure because as Dell Crossword said, "Success is not permanent. The same is also true of failure." I believe there is so much to learn from each and every mistake you and others make. Everything you do in life is a learning experience for yourself as well as others. I hope to be an inspiration to others, especially those people under me that you can always do anything you set your mind to with hard work, motivation and learning from the past.
My family now understands why I enjoy what I am doing and looking forward to getting on active duty. The Air Force has opened so many opportunities for me and for that I am grateful. I now have a strong support base from my family. After graduating Field Training in summer 2008, I have never been more proud to say that I am an Air Force ROTC cadet and I too can do great things. Just as General Colin Powell stated "There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, learning from failure."
