COLLEGE LIFE AS A STUDENT CADET
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n an early, cold Thursday morning, Army ROTC Battalion Commander Brendon Mitchell ’19 and Company Commander Emma Shaw ’20 head to PC’s campus to meet fellow cadets in the basement of Jacobs Hall for physical training. Mitchell and Shaw work closely together in their respective leadership roles this year, which involves communicating and distributing information to cadets. (Information usually funnels down from Mitchell to Shaw). Family, career ambitions, and a coincidental love of soccer led both Mitchell and Shaw to Army ROTC at PC, where they’ve learned leadership and more. During the morning, Shaw is charged with knowing who is present, a role she likens to real-life scenarios soldiers are faced with in the military. “(It) transitions into when we graduate and into the Army,” she said. “You need to make sure you know where your soldiers are – if somebody’s sick or missing – you have accountability for them.” After a few minutes, the group of cadets, dressed in their Army black and gold physical training (or PT) gear, step out of the bunker and onto the cool, wet grass near Alumni Green. Few people are awake when cadets begin their workout shortly before 6 a.m. Aside from the occasional sound of the swishing of their joggers and jackets, the campus is quiet and still. The dark grounds are illuminated only by light poles and
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buildings, where exterior light fixtures illuminate columns and trees. A cadet explains an exercise and begins to count in cadence, as the others echo. “Pain is temporary. Pride is forever,” Mitchell recites to himself before the group takes a run through downtown Clinton.
BRENDON MITCHELL ’19 Senior Brendon Mitchell has always wanted to see how far he could run, how far he could go, and how far he could push himself. In those times, when his physical endurance is tested, mantras like those above become more than thoughts. He repeats certain phrases out loud to help “push through the pain,” he says. He remembers encouraging himself through a combat jump in full equipment during airborne school the summer of his sophomore year at Ft. Benning. It also helps when he’s training, especially during PT tests. “I know that pain will stop sometime, but that pride you have of accomplishing your goal will always last and always be with you,” Mitchell said. He’s not alone in feeling that pride. In the past four years, he’s learned communication, management, leadership and teamwork. He shares the
