As high school comes to a close many seniors are excited to rep their new college sweatshirt during their first class. Others are deciding to take a gap year to explore their options and the world. Some students, though, are looking to wear the uniform of the greatest team on earth, choosing the path of the military- and some of those students will begin on the path of ROTC, or the Reserve Officer Training Corps, which is designed for students to further their education while training to become an officer in the U.S. military. Whether joining the Navy, Air Force, or Army, the military-bound graduates of HBHS have a handful of students who will be making the commitment to join ROTC and serve their country.

ROTC is designed to give college students the chance to become commissioned officers in the military, graduating with the rank of second lieutenant. Students will learn to be leaders with training throughout college and a month-long camp in-between junior and senior year. With the skills they learn in ROTC, they will eventually learn to lead America’s soldiers.

A few students at HBHS will commit to joining ROTC while in college. Nathan Corsetti ‘17, a star varsity baseball pitcher, received a four-year scholarship from the Army to attend either Syracuse University or Boston University. Corsetti looks forward to“build[ing his] leadership skills and doing something purposeful.” He said, “The opportunity to travel the world is really cool.” 

Along with Corsetti, Livi Simmerman ‘17, also aims to enter ROTC. She will be attending Penn State in the fall and will be joining their Air Force ROTC program. “My mom was in the Air Force all my life,” Simmerman explained. “I’ve known I wanted to do it and follow in her footsteps.”

Connor Harris ‘17, who is interested in a career in law enforcement and who will attend SNHU in the fall, aims to achieve an ROTC grant. “I really wanted to become a police officer and I thought ROTC was the best course of action, and I also want to serve my country,” Harris said. He has yet to receive a scholarship but is looking towards  applying for one in the coming months.

Serving the country is a very important driving motivation for students joining the military. As for myself, I will be joining Connor Harris and the other class of ‘17 graduates headed for ROTC next fall. Personally, I felt that joining ROTC would benefit my career after college and open many doors for future opportunities. It will give me valuable leadership skills to help me during and after my eventual time in the military. After college, I aim to pursue a federal law enforcement job and I, like Corsetti, Harris, Simmerman, and many others, felt that entering ROTC was the best course of action for my military and academic future.