Becoming A Flight Commander Essay

In the words of several historians, philosophers, and community activists throughout the dawn of mankind, there have been arguments as to whether leaders are born the way they are, or if leaders are molded by their day to day experiences and the environment of their life. I too have pondered over this question for quite some time, as I thought about figures such as John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Franklin Roosevelt, and Martin Luther King Jr. However, little did I realize that the answer would come sooner to me than I thought, and that I would find the answer within myself. Before I entered high school, I was the stereotypical drawn back teenager. I enjoyed keeping to myself, staying quiet, pushing back the center for attention, and closing myself

My instructors saw a light in me that I was oblivious to, and pushed me to chase that light along with my dreams. My first year of JROTC I became a Flight Commander. In the structure of military command, a flight commander is towards the bottom of the totem pole; their task to watch over their flight of students and to command them in drill and everyday class procedures. However, as time went by, I soon rose the ranks becoming the Commander of our Competition Color Guard Team, then Commander of our Operations Squadron, and last but not least, acquiring the highest position within JROTC: Group Commander, with the rank of Cadet Colonel. I went from the shy, reserved person I was to leading meetings, speaking in front of cadets, giving an hour presentation to our Unit Inspector, instructing events, and composing essays for contests. I became heavily involved in a plethora of events ranging from giving out Christmas cards at a local Veteran’s Home, saluting military kids in Snowball Express, and competing at Regional Competitions, gaining over one hundred community service hours in my tenure