Creative Writing: Cadet Of The Month

Cadet of the Month Have you ever been so terrified you wanted to cry, scream, and throw up at the same time? In March of 2016, I was selected to be my company’s representative for Cadet of the Month. I would answer questions about the JROTC curriculum and uniforms. Let’s just say, I was not at all thrilled. It was a normal day in JROTC, taking notes from the book, learning new vocab, listening to Sergeant Bush talk about leadership or something. Suddenly, Sergeant Major enters the room and asks, “Who is the LET 1 going to the Cadet of the Month board for March?” He scans the room, and his eyes stop on me. “You. You are going to the board, what’s your name again? Wait, don’t tell me, Tackett.” says Sergeant Major. My heart is pounding and

My friends, God bless them, help calm me down through the day. They tell me to calm down, and to take deep breaths. I leave my 8th hour a little early to go put my uniform on, and everyone wishes me good luck. I slowly put my uniform on, wanting to just go home and sleep. My two friends Jenniffer and Felica, and my cousin Akenzi stand with my rep and wait for me to come out of the bathroom. The three of them are all in JROTC, so they check over my uniform dozens of times. They quiz me over and over again. We go over the procedures until I know them like the back of my hand. Sergeant Major gathers all of the cadets and says, “Okay, here we go. I am only going to say this once. You will go up to the door, pound on the door, wait until they say enter, and then go through the door. Now write your phone number here, and if you get a call tonight, you won, if not you didn’t win, and good luck next year.” He turns to me and says, “You 're in Alpha company, so do you want to go first or second?” I look to my rep and he urges me to go second. As the first cadet goes, I get my picture taken, so if in case I win they have a picture. My rep prepps me even more, and I start to have a panic attack. I say, “I’m not going to win, this is a LET 3 and 4 board. There is no way I’m going to win. They calm me down again, and it’s my turn to go in. Sergeant Major comes out and asks who is going next, I raise