College Life as a Student Cadet

On 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

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 experiences with other cadets, including Shaw. Both had their first taste of teamwork with soccer, a sport the two have played since childhood.

Mitchell, who played in middle and high school, says the team structure was a large part of what led him to the military, along with his uncle, who served as a helicopter pilot in the Navy. Growing up, his uncle’s stories of flying and seeing different states intrigued him.

A middle school class project helped him ultimately decide on a career in the military.

The assignment involved Mitchell finding a career path he thought he’d want to pursue, and he discovered it one day flipping through a military magazine in class.

“I came across an article of an Army Ranger captain talking about his experience going to Halo or another specialized school, how he had to push himself,” he said. “It just really interested me. I researched more and, at that point, I really wanted to do something in the military.”

Mitchell was 16 then. When the college search rolled around, he only applied to institutions with Army ROTC programs. A friend from his high school near Charlotte, N.C., went to PC for soccer, so Mitchell added PC to his list.

“Touring the campus and talking to the PMS (professor of military science) helped me make my decision,” he said.

The campus is now Mitchell’s home and where he begins those early PT mornings that transition into 8 a.m. classes and afternoons full of time with friends and activities and, of course, ROTC lab, training and class.

Time management is another skill he has mastered due to those busy days. Managing goes hand-in-hand with his major and professional plans.

Mitchell, a business management major, says he’s learning through his classes how his actions and behaviors can influence others to accomplish a goal, whether it’s completing a task for a manager or submitting a business proposal on time.

The position of battalion commander at PC has been a chance for him to break out of his shy personality and put that influence to work. But he’s not barking orders. He reinforces that team spirit he’s honed since childhood.

It gives others a chance to work through challenges and communicate with each other, he says.

“Through these last four years and the opportunities that I’ve had,” Mitchell said, “I’ve reached a potential that I never knew I could in the military.”

EMMA SHAW ’20

Emma Shaw decided to join ROTC around Christmas of her sophomore year. She joined for a lot of different reasons, she says, but most of it had to do with looking at her future.

She wanted to graduate and jump into a career she believed made a difference or mattered. Many students see the medical field as the answer. A career in medicine was her original plan, too.

After connecting with Capt. Brian Casey, assistant professor of military science, during a career day in Neville Hall, she found the career opportunities she wanted in the military.

“That was really my biggest reason for joining, and I don’t regret it one bit,” Shaw said. “There’s never been a day I’ve regretted the decision even when we’re running during PT. It’s tough, but, at the end of the day, it feels like it’s worth it.”

Originally from Canton, Ga., Shaw came to PC on an athletic scholarship to play soccer. She remembers starting college not knowing what to do and joking about possibly changing her major during the team’s study hall.

“Every other week I’d say, ‘OK. I’m a history major. I’m a political science major,’” she said. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I have always been interested in biology.”

When she decided on the major, she had to double-up on biology and chemistry courses. By the end of her freshman year, she started to find a direction.

Her goal off the field? After commissioning at the end of her senior year, she plans to branch medical service and apply to the Army’s Interservice Physician Assistant Program.

She was introduced to the career path after one of her friends mentioned to her his aunt was a physician assistant in the Navy.

“I’d never really thought about the Army or any military branch needing those positions. But of course, they do,” she said.

The only family connection Shaw has to the military is a step-brother at West Point.

After talking with her friend and learning more, she decided to take Casey’s advice from the career day: coming to lab or PT and experiencing the life of a cadet.

After participating, she called her mom and told her she wanted to join. With the support of her family, cadre and soccer coaches, she’s been able to continue to be a cadet and play the sport she calls her passion.

“Everybody has their thing,” Shaw said. “Soccer has always been my stress relief. Some of my teammates are my best friends. Now that I’m in ROTC, I feel like I’m a better cadet because I play soccer, and I’m a better player because I’m a cadet.”

Both are about teamwork and leadership, she said. “As a leader, you’re trying to make the people on your team better. You’re trying to create other leaders. The better your team is, the better you’re going to do as a whole.”

After a Thursday morning workout, she joined her fellow cadets for breakfast. During the season, there’s admittedly a bit of a juggling act that goes on with ROTC, classes and soccer — including extra workouts and weightlifting.

But her professors, specifically her adviser, Dr. Ronald Zimmerman, sit with her each semester to figure out how she’ll tackle her requirements. The supportive environment at PC is similar to how she describes the ROTC program.

Just as you “never walk into GDH and meet a stranger,” she says fellow cadets become more than that, they are best friends.

And Shaw, who is one of only two female cadets in the program at PC, said she seldom thinks about that difference. There are other women from Lander University and Newberry College in the New Highlander Battalion she sees once or twice a week. She also reiterated all of the cadets encourage her.

It could be heard as soon as she breezed in after the 3-mile run during PT that morning: “Good job, Shaw.”