<p>that is one crazy art final!</p>
<p>Yeah, I have one final on the 15th, and 3 on the 16th, and I have to get all my other apps in by the 15th, so its going to be insanely crazy and stressful. But at least I will be very relieved that weekend, even if I don’t get in.</p>
<p>Argh I’m trying to finish all my apps by the 15th too. But damn school keeps getting in the way. If it wasn’t for the sickening amount of work all my teachers keep assigning, perhaps I could actually be close to finishing!!! :(</p>
<p>thats why u do apps right before school starts…my school demeanded all apps by second week of november, early was oct 4th…so gtown has been in for 2 months</p>
<p>Wow, that’s interesting. I’ve never heard of a school doing that. I wish mine did, then maybe I wouldn’t be waiting to the last minute. :)</p>
<p>Yeah, I’m also trying to get all of my apps done by the 15th. I’ve decided that I’m going to send all of them off regardless of my G-town decision, just in case G-town financial aid falls through (e.g. no ROTC scholarship) and I have to go somewhere else. Luckily, all of the schools I’m applying to, with the exception of Northwestern, use the common app., which I’ve just about finished.</p>
<p>Yeah. I sorta self-motivated myself to finish all my apps. Have em packed and ready just in case, but hopefully I can toss them to the bonfire and wave the Georgetown acceptance like a crazed caveman…</p>
<p>My school doesn’t have conventional college applications…first of all, it’d be impossible to regulate because there are about 600 seniors and then 2400 other students…</p>
<p>Also because the majority of kids at my school don’t apply out of state!</p>
<p>And, I apologize for not knowing, but what exactly is ROTC? We don’t have it at any of the schools in our district, so what do you guys do, etc?</p>
<p>8-10 days left until D-Day. :o</p>
<p>yeah it makes me more anxious though since its been in for like a month longer than everyone elses</p>
<p>Hrmm. ROTC… It’s a bit complicated, but basically it’s a leadership program, using the Army structure and chain of command. (Of course, for Air Force JROTC, it’s obviously not going to use the Army’s, but rather the Air Force’s, so on and so forth)… The basic mission of the ROTC program is to “motivate young people to be better citizens.” It’s not a recruiting tool, of course, but it does make a profound change in many people’s lives (including mine).</p>
<p>If I were to split the things we do in ROTC to three categories, I’d do it like this: curricular, extracurricular, and administration.</p>
<p>Curricular is academic, tied in with the ROTC curriculum. Mondays, the cadets go off to do Physical Training (P.T.), Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, the cadets study a variety of material, including:</p>
<ul>
<li>Health, Wellness, and First Aid</li>
<li>American Civilian and Military History</li>
<li>Leadership Traits and Principles</li>
<li>Features of the Brain</li>
<li>Map Reading and Terrain Features</li>
<li>Citizenship (U.S. Legal System)</li>
<li>Introduction to J.R.O.T.C.</li>
</ul>
<p>Obviously, this is in no particular order. On Fridays, cadets wear their uniform and get their weekly inspection. </p>
<p>About 70% of the battalion does this and only this, however…</p>
<p>(A battalion is a school’s JROTC program…)</p>
<p>About 30% participate in the extracurricular activities. This includes Regulation Drill (Company [group of 44 cadets], Platoon [group of 25 cadets], Squad [group of 9 cadets]), Fancy Drill (Rifle Spinning, and then specialized arm movements and the such, they’re Armed and Unarmed Drill Teams, respectively)… Rifle Team (this is canceled for a while due to a fatality in Missouri), Color Guard (standard military color guard, bearers of the U.S. and California and Unit Flags, four to five cadets)… They also participate in disaster details (where cadets during emergencies and emergency drills have free access around campus to take care of emergency situations, including handling the transportation of injuries)… courtesy patrols, et cetera…</p>
<p>Annually, these teams perform a handful of performances. Our last one was the Korean Festival Parade, which was held in the heart of Koreatown.</p>
<p>Then there’s the administration part of it all…</p>
<p>I have a staff of 7 members at my school, who form the “battalion staff.” They regulate cadet operations…</p>
<pre><code> BN (Battalion) Commander: (Me) – handles all affairs within the school.
BN Executive Officer: – handles staff affairs at the school.
BN Sergeant Major: – sort of like an advisor for non-commissioned officers to the Battalion Commander, handles most of the extracurricular affairs and unit maintenance
BN S-1 (Adjutant) – handles the paperwork, cadet records (there are about 500 annually)
BN S-3 (Training Officer) – anytime an event is coming up, she handles the event scheduling and such, also regulates drill and ceremonies practices
BN S-4 (Supply Officer) – is in charge of issuing and receiving uniforms as we go on vacation in our respective tracks, she takes care of our supplies
BN S-5 (Information and Public Affairs Officer) – is in charge of most public relations, advertisings for the JROTC program, recruitment, and the such…
</code></pre>
<p>We do a lot of events throughout the course of the year, and each ROTC unit is unique, but here’s a glimpse of what we do:</p>
<p>June - All-City Staff Competition (I’ll explain this one in a minute)</p>
<p>September-October - Camp Clear Creek (about 50 first-year cadets are selected from the district to go to Clear Creek, a camp site in the San Bernardino Mountains… there they learn ecology traits, also get to know the All-City Staff, as well as get a first-hand-look at the JROTC program…)</p>
<p>October – Voice of Democracy Competition (an annual essay held district-wide by the Veterans of Foreign Wars)</p>
<p>November - Director of Army Instructor’s Annual Comprehensive Inspection (this is where the administration part kicks in… the schools compete to get first place in this inspection… the Director of Army Instruction, in charge of all the District JROTC programs, comes down to inspect our units and see how much progress we’ve made as a battalion staff… we missed first by about two points… to my girlfriend’s school … ^_^…)</p>
<p>November - Color Guard Competition (remember my explanation of the color guard earlier? 17 schools compete to win first place in this too… our school won this, yey!)</p>
<p>December - Drill and Ceremonies Competition (remember my explanation of all the extracurricular activites? This is like “Super Saturday” to us – whoever wins first place here for all the teams (each team has their own competition) wins the big kahuna for the rest of the year.</p>
<p>February - Military Ball… sorta like ROTC prom… </p>
<p>March-April - Camp San Luis Obispo - about 300 cadets are selected districtwide to go to the National Guard base in San Luis Obispo… basically a leadership training course… there are obstacle courses, reaction courses (where teamwork kicks in) and of course… the “classes”…</p>
<p>May - Awards Ceremony… typically, schools hold their award ceremony at the school auditorium, but ours is held at the Olympic Collection Banquet Center… It’s an amazing night, and costs a pretty penny too…</p>
<p>As a battalion… I say we fundraised about a total of $25,000 during the past fiscal year… </p>
<p>Of course, there’s the run of the mill stuff we handle… such as promotions, awards, and such… but that’s a whole other story…</p>
<p>We also have the District staff, where out of 6,000 cadets, ten are selected to take care of District-level JROTC affairs cadet-wise… </p>
<p>The number one cadet for the school year holds the title of “All-City Colonel” … and this year… it’s yours truly. :-)… </p>
<p>Basically, every year it’s a race to the top, there’s also an overall competition to see which schools win first, second, and third. Last year, we went from 7th to 2nd place… this year, we’re 2nd and hope to win 1st… </p>
<p>Hopefully… :: crosses fingers ::</p>
<p>Sorry if I confused anyone.</p>
<p>My school needs apps to be in 4 weeks before the deadline, but I just tell my counselor I’ve already sent them online when in fact I haven’t even started it…</p>
<p>Bwahaha. I lied to my guidance counselor too!</p>
<p>Wow tlak, that’s super intense!</p>
<p>So is this program affiliated with army/air force/what have you? are you bound to serve in the army?</p>
<p>Sounds like an awesome experience</p>
<p>It’s affiliated with the Army (at least mine, I think Josh’s is Affiliated with the Air Force).</p>
<p>No, you’re not bound to serve in the Army, but you can receive recommendations to advance to E-3 (PFC, about 800 dollars more a month than enlisting just right off the bat) or a 2 year advancement on SROTC.</p>
<p>Just thought I’d mention how normal all of the people on this board “seem.” I was reading the Harvard and Yale boards and the people just come across differently. I was reading some posts where people would bicker back and forth with each other about why each person won’t get in… and it makes me laugh. So thank you all for coming across as normal.</p>
<p>I totally agree, phwch. Just confirms what I’ve suspected all along: Georgetown students (and wannabees!) kick all others’ butts!</p>
<p>Tlaktan: What an amazing program. Thanks for all the info you provided- I was painfully ignorant before. And congrats on all your achievements, Mr. “All-City Colonel!” :)</p>
<p>Okay, back to AP Gov I go… :(<br>
Why do my teachers suck so much? 3 tests tomorrow, and 3 more later this week- Do they not realize that all I can think about is December 15th?!</p>
<p>Thanks, phwch! I actually noticed that, too. We definitely seem more like a group of friends talking about stuff (though more focused on college admissions), while other people (<em>cough</em> HYP <em>cough</em>) seem like college-crazed robots.</p>
<p>Cool, I’m normal. 
Even though normal on CC makes us… nerds in real life? J/K!</p>
<p>PS- Lauren, don’t you mean Tlaktan? Hehe… It’s okay, they sound similar.</p>
<p>Yeah I noticed that too, especially on the HYP and SAT boards. They are all like “OMG I got a 1590. I NEED to get a 1600 or I’m never going to get in!”.</p>
<p>Yep. Thanks a lot lauren and everyone else… you guys are great… I mean everyone here’s achieved some great things…</p>
<p>yeah because gtown is not like those ivys, its more laid back and friendly</p>