It has been 8 years since I enrolled as a freshman at Naples High School, and little did I know that my fourth period JROTC class would turn out to be the largest source of opportunities, friendship, and success that was offered at the high school level. My name is Thomas Gorman, and I am a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army Medical Service Corps. Funny enough, my path to eventually graduating Hampden-Sydney College and being commissioned as an Army officer all started with my experiences in JROTC. I made many friends, was active in multiple clubs, and eventually became strong enough to do a pretty decent number of pushups. Of course, with JROTC comes the many extracurricular activities that you should absolutely take full advantage of as they not only help your future college applications, but your skills as a leader. If you put in the work, you will be rewarded down the line. Your cadre at Naples High JROTC want you to succeed, they want you to go on and do great things for yourself and your family. Having the support of LTC Garrah and SFC Phillips gave me a base of understanding for my future endeavors into life and the Army. Even today I still look to these men for advice.
I was a recipient of a 3-year AD ROTC Scholarship during my spring semester of senior year in high school. Honestly, there is no better scholarship out there than the ROTC scholarship. The benefits of this scholarship are far beyond paying your tuition. The ROTC scholarship is one of the few scholarships that require you become a leader in a field that only a very small amount of citizens can fulfill. My advice to work towards one of these scholarships is to be as active as you can in both JROTC and school, because these activities will pay off in the long run for both your mental fortitude and physical stamina. Likewise, you need to work hard in your classes to maintain a good GPA. Finally, make it one of your goals to work out as often as possible. Physical fitness is so important in working towards one of these scholarships, and equally as important in your lifetime, so you might as well start now. Overall, the ROTC scholarship changed my life and I hope one day it can change yours if you choose to pursue the same path that I did. You have the resources in your cadre, utilize them.
I hope that JROTC brings you as much joy as I was able to get out of it, and I look forward to seeing all of you turn out to do great things in your career no matter what path you decide on. Good luck to all of you, and I hope you have a great year.
Respectfully,
Thomas Gorman
2LT, Medical Services Corps