On June 21st, 2016, Tyvon Davis, Adonia Riley, Trevor Wilson and I attended a Leadership Camp at The Citadel. Since it was during the summer you could see the heat waves on the hoods of cars as we drove to Charleston, SC. Knowing that this week long program would be intense, we were physically prepared but, on the inside we were an emotional wreck. Prior to leaving for this camp, we prepared throughout the school year. Cramming our brains with knowledge and feeling our muscles ache from mile runs. From learning sword detail to perfecting armed and unarmed drill movements. Even after school got out, we continued to practice and to study for what we knew would be a helping hand to our unit. To be able to attend Leadership Academy you would …show more content…
When we arrived no one was there and it turned out that we arrived a day early. Thinking that we were on the verge of getting that week out of the way, we had another 24 hours to wait. When the next morning arrived we were in for a rude awakening. As we arrived retired Marine and Navy personnel were everywhere. You could hear yelling before you opened the car door and by then we all knew that we were going to have a long week. Since the four of us were attending from the school, we were separated as soon as we reported in. Even though we were happy to end having mile runs 5 in the morning and hot 16 hour days doing drill over and over again, we were all sad to leave the friends we made during the week. Being yelled at wasn’t that bad because we knew that’s what was expected out of Marine and Navy personnel’s. On an early Sunday morning we prepared to graduate from Leadership Academy with our very own silver leadership cord to wear with our ROTC uniform. After having such a drastic experience, I learned how to be a better leader. I took back more self confidence as being a leader in my unit. I knew that in order to help our unit grow and improve I would have to make some changes in myself. I was no longer just one person; I was a valuable part of a whole. My advice to someone going in the future would be to know that everything is a mind game because you have you have to have that dedication and