Tag: COLLEGE

It has been some time since my last post.  I stay pretty busy as an Outreach Officer. 

I have received quite a few questions about what an Outreach Officer does.  The Outreach Team has evolved into the U.S. Military Academy's major minority recruitment effort. As an Outreach Officer at the United States Military Academy, I do a lot of traveling.  I am assigned to the Southeast Region of the United States (Maryland to Florida).  Six minority "Outreach Officers," like myself, travel around the country speaking to minority students and civic organizations about this program. First, we educate minority college-bound students by explaining the opportunities that a USMA education offers. Secondly, we assist West Point applicants through our arduous admissions process.

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I had the opportunity to go TDY to Fort Lee, Virginia for the opening of the US Army Women's Museum's "Kevlar and Crowns" exhibit.  What a pleasure it was to meet 4 of the other subjects of this story of "Soldier Beauty Queens".  Robynne Dexter, archivist for the museum, was the master mind behind the exhibit - she did a phenomenal job of capturing us as we really are: American Soldiers who are complicated women.  I could not be more proud than to be a part of this exhibit with these incredible women!

For more details on the exhibit, check out the following links:

http://www.fortleetraveller.com/articles/2009/07/30/news/top_stories/top06.txt

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/local/article/WOME01_20090731-215404/283415/

http://www.progress-index.com/articles/2009/08/04/news/military/pi_progindex.20090804.b.pg1.pi0804milexhibit_s1.2707310_mil.txt

Libby, me, and Athene at the entrance of the US Army Women's Museum at Fort Lee, VA

My OIF 06-08 uniform (in the front) and my OIF II uniform (to the right)

Some of the exhibit's subjects

My gold spurs and a bottle of "Revlon Red" nail polish

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Another great benefit of being associated with the Department of Military Science is being able to maintain a connection to the University and experiencing some pretty rare treats.  Last night, my husband and I were on hand for The University of Texas at Arlington's Gala Reception for the 1895 and Carlisle Societies.  UT Arlington started out as a military school for boys in 1895; its "military founding father" was James McCoy Carlisle.  The event honored annual donors to the University and offered the unique opportunity to view the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. 

We were able to tour all of the behind the scenes areas, to include the world's largest jumbo-tron, the Cowboy's locker room, and even walked out on to the unfinished field. 

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Here is my 30 second Army "Elevator Speech" (you know, the hypothetical "Here's what's important about me" pitch you would give to a stranger in the time it took you to get to where you were going on an elevator...): 

I'm an Army officer, a new mom, and come from a proud/humble family of patriots.  I earned my commission through Army ROTC at The University of Texas at Arlington in 1998 and was commissioned as an Adjutant General Corps officer.  Since then, I've served in such exotic locations as Fort Polk, Louisiana; Fort Hood, Texas; and all over Iraq.  I have truly learned that it doesn't matter where you are, but who you're with; I've been able to serve with some of the Army's best, which has made the journey all the better. 

My two younger brothers are also military officers: Brad is a Major in the Air Force, and Dave is a Lieutenant in the Navy.  My husband recently left the Army as a Major and now works as an Engineer.  My grandfather served as a Combat Engineer with the First Cavalry Division in the South Pacific during WWII.  Nothing made me more proud than to serve my company command time in the First Cavalry Division as well. 

I am currently the Battalion Executive Officer and Assistant Professor of Military Science back at my alma mater - I teach the Freshman Cadets and couldn't ask for a better job.  My husband and I recently welcomed our first child in May.  Being a leader of Soldiers has definitely prepared me for the challenges of motherhood.

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I'm officially done with my undergraduate career. I took my last final at 1300 today. As I walked out the door of the College of Business Administration for the last time, I had to sigh with relief. The moment was very bittersweet. I love going to school much more than the average college student. Something about buying new books, taking new classes, learning new information, it all just excites me. Now I'm done.

I arrived home after my last final exam and plopped down on the couch. After about a minute of watching the Weather Channel (because that's what every 22 year old watches!) I was instantly bored. I had no homework problems involving economic growth models to tackle, no papers about portfolio diversification to write, no exam worth 50% of my grade to study for, nothing. So I did my laundry instead.

I graduate on Saturday. I graduate. I will have my Bachelor's degree. In the past four and half years I've: moved to Texas without knowing a soul, pined away for my boyfriend while he was on his mission, struggled to fit in at a ritzy private university, moved back to Nebraska, started over at a new school, enlisted in the Army, had my boyfriend of five years break up with me because I joined the Army, stopped caring about school, got a job bartending, took time off school to go to basic training and AIT, came back with 15 pounds of new muscle and an engagement ring, got motivated about school again, started getting straight As, realized I didn't want to get married, ran a half marathon, got promoted...twice, put in a packet for a direct commission, scored a great job in Houston, finally came to like being single, learned that I do whatever I set my mind to, and earned my degree.

I earned it. I did all this. I learned some difficult lessons. And on Saturday I will put on my cap and gown, walk across the stage, receive my diploma and, as my friend 2LT Ingram so eloquently put it, "move on to do bigger and better things."

You can count it.

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This is my first time “blogging”. I was told I should start off telling everyone a little about myself so here it goes.

It all started on a cold October day in 1967 in Lawton, OK. Just kidding. I was born in October in 1967 in Oklahoma, but I don’t know how the weather was. I am the oldest of 4 girls and the first person in my family to go to college. My parents liked to move so I went to 5 different high schools. I finally graduated from Green-Tailaferro Comprehensive High School in Greensboro, GA.

I didn’t know how to apply to college. By the time, I figured it out, the University of Georgia was the only college still accepting applications. Luckily, I was accepted. For the first year, I worked at the dining hall to pay for books and as a maid to pay for room and board. Working 30-40 hours a week did not work out so well. My last 3 years were paid by a ROTC scholarship. I am not a real Bulldog. I went in the stadium once and that was to graduate. I could only afford to apply to 2 colleges (MCG and USUHS). I was accepted to both, but went to USUHS. I did my internal medicine residency at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. My duty stations (other than WRAMC) have only included Ft. Hood, Tx and San Antonio, Tx.

I have three children (23, 18, 13). Our oldest is almost done with his electrical engineering degree and our 18 year old just started college. They are both boys. Our youngest is a girl and she is in 8th grade. I used to feel sorry for people with teenage boys, but now I feel sorry for people with teenage daughters.

I will end it here for now. So long until next time.

Clorinda Zawacki, LTC, MD
 

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Since graduating from Duke, I have had a lot of time to reflect on my time at Duke Army ROTC before reporting to BOLC in early November.

Sometimes I talk to friends who have found comfortable desk jobs and I wonder what on earth am I doing. My experience will be so different from theirs. It will include danger, challenge, and not much in the way of salary or perks.

Then I remember what a great experience I had in Army ROTC, how much I grew as a person and a cadet and how excited I am about what lies ahead. There is really no other career path that would given me as much meaning, as much personal development, or as much personal satisfaction as the one I chose.

ROTC was the best part of my college experience. And the greatest value of ROTC was the excellent mentorship. Anytime I wanted, I could walk into the cadre members’ offices and talk to them. Most of them are senior personnel with 20 years experience leading soldiers. Thanks to them, I learned a tremendous amount. They helped me to be constructively self aware and gave excellent advice on all the challenges I had to face.

I also got a tremendous amount of personal satisfaction from mentoring the classes below me, especially the juniors. The other seniors and I spent a lot of time training counseling , and mentoring them. Inevitably, I wonder what I really accomplished and what mark I left at Duke. Seeing those whom I mentored succeed at LDAC and then do an excellent job leading the battalion is very rewarding.

As a result of the mentorship I received and by learning how mentor others, I overcame big challenges. When I came into the program, I had no idea how to influence others or to build a team. By the end of my time in Durham, I had learned more than most leaders in corporate America do in a decade. I also had to deal with a range of challenging issues.

Finally, the other benefit ROTC gave me which would not have been available at a service academy was time to take advantage of the many things college has to offer. I held leadership positions in other campus organizations, I took advantage of Duke’s social scene and took a large variety of courses.

Thanks to the experiences I had, particularly ROTC, I graduated from Duke comfortable with myself as a person and with a much clearer sense of who I was. I have a clear sense of my strengths and weaknesses and the things I need to do to work on those weaknesses. I feel well prepared for the challenges ahead.
 

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Lately, I have been reflecting on my Junior and Senior years of ROTC and how much I learned during them.
Junior year, ROTC becomes a little more serious. In addition to what I discussed in my last post, the class will take up more time and you are rotated in and out of leadership positions. After each cycle, you are counseled and evaluated.

The standards you are expected to reach are higher and there is extra training if you do not meet those standards. The goal is to prepare you for Leadership Development and Assessment Course (LDAC) and to start your development as an effective leader.
The counseling and feedback I got was great. We did not have any seniors in the program so I was counseled by our NCOs each of whom had had about 20 years experience in the army. They looked at us through 16 leadership dimensions that include things like tactical and technical knowledge, learning ability, physical leadership presence, and conceptual abilities. If you listen well to the counseling and are humble enough to accept advice then you will learn a lot. You develop a lot more self-awareness, an important quality if you are going to lead effectively.
Senior year can vary tremendously depending on what position you are. First semester I was Cadet Battalion Commander, where you run the whole show. As a result, ROTC kept me very busy. I got phone calls in the middle of the night and spent a lot of time taking to cadets and cadre in addition to doing administrative things. At the same time, you can get a position that is much easier.
Finally, there are some summer training events, but LDAC is the only required one. You can also spend time in really army units, go to airborne, air assault or mountain warfare school.

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I've been on Vicodin and in bed for that last two weeks. There are currently two bottles of Codine in my bathroom closet. I've been grouchy, without a voice, in tears, unable to eat, and lacking sleep for longer than I care to go through. I had my tonsils out.

My tonsils have been huge and disgusting since I was 16 and sick for two months with a misdiagnosed case of Mono. They were full of infectious pits and crevices and would bleed sporadically. I suffered numerous cases of strep and would lose my voice about three times a year for three weeks at a time.

This past March, my tonsils became so large that they were poking the back of my throat. I would wake up in the middle of the night unable to breathe. I was miserable. By a sheer miracle of God, I managed to get a referral to a civilian doctor (this almost never happens in the military medical system) and was told that they needed to come out. I almost leapt off my chair and hugged the guy. So two weeks ago, I finally got a much belated Christmas present, I got my tonsils out!

The first day wasn't too bad; I was high on morphine to really remember much. According to my mother, I told her that I needed to study for my GRE test, typical of me. The next day, I was running a fever, couldn't speak, and was throwing up from all the drugs in my system. Throwing up normally hurts but when you have two huge raw holes in your throat, it is almost unbearable. I was miserable.

My tongue was so swollen I couldn't bring my teeth together to clinch them in pain. I was nauseous beyond belief. The pain in my ears was something I've never felt, almost comparable to when I badly sprained both my ankles after falling down a flight of stairs at school. I could only get down some Jell-O and ice chips.

After five days at my parents' house, I convinced them that I needed to get back down to Lincoln. That's when the real pain set in. My scabs in the back of my throat started to come off. I could feel the chunks come loose and slowly make their way down my throat, like what it feels like when you try to swallow a pill and it just doesn't want to go down.
My ear pain became acute. I would lie on my couch with tears streaming out of the corners of my eyes. I had to force myself to drink water, clenching something in one hand as the lukewarm liquid hit the raw, bleeding pits. My thin frame became thinner as 11 pounds came off. My hip and collar bones jutted out sickeningly. I had no energy and couldn't sleep due to the pain.

Keep in mind that I went to class during this. One week after my surgery, my first summer class started. I went to class without taking pain medication so I could drive. I held on to the side of my chair to keep myself from crying out in pain. I forced myself to work out (part of the class is cardio and weight training) on what little energy I could muster up from the strawberry Jell-O I had managed to force down hours before.

Today marks two weeks since my surgery. I have my voice back and I can sleep through the night. I put back on 7 of my lost pounds and can eat solid food again. It still hurts to swallow at times but I've shelved the pain meds. I can breathe properly for the first time in years! I was amazed this is what it feels like to breathe! Before, it felt like something was always blocking the air I was sucking in; now, everything just flows. It's amazing. This surgery and all its pain was more than worth it!
 

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For my first blog entry, I thought it would fitting to introduce myself and then talk a little bit about why I joined ROTC.

I have lived in the same house inside of Washington DC since I was born.  Both my parents are lawyers.  My dad finished his career working in a not for profit that did AIDS and other disease prevention in developing countries. 

My mom is currently working in corporate legal for SAIC, a major defense contractor.  I attended Washington International School (WIS) since kindergarden.  At WIS, I got exposed to people from many different backgrounds since most of the people’s parents worked for the World Bank, IMF, or embassies.  At the same time, almost no one from WIS ever joined any military.

I was very tempted to join the Marines straight out of high school mostly because I loved their ads.  The Marines had esprit de corps, they had discipline and they were elite.  However, I soon realized the Marines are a little crazy and the Army had more to offer.  You could go to ranger school and get the same challenge as being a Marine but then you could do things like Special Forces or military intelligence.

Sophomore year of college I decided I would give the Army a shot.  I had heard of Leader’s Training Course (LTC) and it sounded great for someone like me.  I get paid to go and do fun stuff, get to see if I want to do the army, and have no commitment after that.  Well LTC was not that fun of an experience but I hear it has gotten better.

Nevertheless, I decided to join.  At the most basic level, I have always felt a strong sense of duty and desire to serve my country.  At another level, I think I would enjoy a lot of what the Army does.  And finally, being an officer in this day and age and in the Infantry is a huge challenge that you get a tremendous amount of personal development from.     

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