The Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) is a program offered in many colleges and within some high school curriculums. The importance of this program is to train the next generations of soldiers who will protect and serve the United States of America. UT Martin has a very expansive ROTC program with many ranks being offered, but the ability to rank up is something that must be earned through hard work and dedication.
A prime example of this is Christina Mills, a criminal justice major at UT Martin, who graduated from the ROTC program and gained the title of Second Lieutenant. Lt. Mills described her personal experience joining the program.
”I would say, to be truthfully honest, I was intimidated to join as a junior in college because all the people in my class had been together since freshman year, but I was welcomed with open arms, not only from my instructors, my cadre and my peers. They taught me everything that I needed to know. Like Lt. Fagin, Lt. Ledgerwood, Lt. Weathers, Lt. Thompson and Lt. Travis, all of these people welcomed me in with open arms and made me feel like I was meant to be there and supposed to be there,” Lt. Mills said.
Lt. Mills proceeds to elaborate on her reasons for joining the ROTC program, saying, ”So I’ve always wanted to be an FBI special agent, and I figured having a military background would give me a leg up on my application to the FBI Academy when I get ready to apply to that.” Lt. Mills wants to use her military experience to springboard her future career.
She does not plan on being in the military for the rest of her life. Many people believe that being a part of ROTC determines their entire college experience, but Lt. Mills has an objection to this misunderstanding. She goes on to express how involved she was around the school, saying, ”I was an ROTC cadet, I was a UT Martin cheerleader, I was a part of Spanish club, I was part of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, I worked a part-time job in a nearby city and I was a resident assistant.”
Lt. Mills continued on about managing all these different activities that she was a part of by saying, ”I had to balance, being on duty and being up all throughout the night, and then go into PT at 5 a.m. in the morning. So you’ll find your balance, but it’s not impossible to not be involved in just ROTC. While you’re here at UT Martin, you can be a part of everything if you really want to.”
She begins to give advice towards future students who may be interested in joining ROTC.
”I would say to stay focused on your personal reasons and your goals for joining. If you know you have a question, reach out for help. There are literally so many people who want to help you and who want to see you succeed. So you don’t have to go through this program alone and try to figure things out on your own. Now, that’s not saying to stop being a critical thinker, or not make decisions for yourself. Because that’s what being a leader is, it’s being a decision maker. But you can lean on people for help when you need it. Not only with ROTC stuff, but about being a college student and just day-to-day things. There’s people here to support you with that,” she said.
Lt. Mills wanted everyone to know that being a member of ROTC and the military in general is being a part of something that is bigger than you and it represents a much larger organization. She talks about this specifically.
”Like, once you put on this uniform, you are basically serving your country. The humility and the determination to give back to your country instead of just, not serving, which everyone has their reasons for serving, but I do feel a sense of American pride, just the fact that I am serving in the military, which multiple people have done before me. So it’s kind of honoring the past and basically like looking ahead towards the future,” she said.
Lt. Mills describes being a part of ROTC as one of the best decisions that she has made because of all the memories and connections that she has made within the program.
