Why I Choose Sohs Course Essay

I want to teach in the Social Sciences Department (SOSH) for three reasons: I believe the topics taught are important for future leaders, I want to pay forward the lessons I have learned as a cadet and as an officer, and I want to be back in an academic community.
The first major I selected as a Second Class Cadet was Environmental Engineering. Math and science were my best subjects at West Point and I knew that an engineering degree would be useful if the Army did not work out. After deliberating about the selection for days and weeks after, I finally changed my major to Economics. I made this decision because I wanted a major where I was forced to do more writing and research on current events. It is my opinion that it is imperative for leaders to understand what is going on in our country and in the international community, and the SOSH department courses provide that knowledge. These topics are important because the role of the Army is nested in the political landscape of our country. Understanding the economic, political, and social context that the military operates in allows us to have a big picture purpose for the Army’s daily operations.

Additionally, I fully acknowledge that my experience at West Point helped to unpack my character strengths and develop my weaknesses.

Although at some times challenging, my overall experience was very positive and I learned a great deal during my 47-month experience. I have numerous instructors and tactical officers who pushed me but also believed in me. Their investment in me is the reason that I have been very successful in my professional career. I want to pay forward what they taught me. Especially at West Point, I think teaching can be a conduit about real-life experiences. I want to be on the team of Social Sciences instructors who inspire cadets to realize their potential and therefore offer their best to West Point and to their gaining

units.
Finally, with the increasingly dynamic international political scene, I want to be back in an academic environment where I can focus on reading, writing, researching, discussing, and teaching these topics. As an intelligence officer I am expected to be the subject matter expert on current events. While I enjoy that role, I want to attend graduate school where I can learn from subject matter experts instead, and then help teach what I have learned. In the future I also want to become a Strategic Intelligence Officer (Functional Area 34). I think that working in the SOSH Department is a good avenue to putting what I have learned in the operational Army into an academic construct to pass on to cadets and then to FA 34.
In conclusion, I think the SOSH Department teaches some of the more valuable lessons to future officers and I want to be a part of those discussions as both a mentor and a scholar.