CHLOE BROWN: Sometimes I think about it,
like what if I didn't do ROTC.
Like, oh, I had so much free time.
THOMAS EDELMAN: Obviously, Air Force ROTC
takes up a big portion of my time outside of class.
JULIANA SILLDORFF: There's definitely
a level of sacrifice to commissioning
and to joining the military.
It's just, it's a whole different world.
Well, everyone who's at MIT that hears that I'm in ROTC,
they're like, oh my gosh, that's super intense.
That's a big time commitment.
CHLOE BROWN: And then everyone who
knows that I'm in ROTC, and then finds out that I go to MIT,
also has that, oh my gosh, like you must be really smart.
So it kind of goes both ways.
But yeah, people are generally surprised one way or the other
when they find out about the other part of my life.
JULIANA SILLDORFF: The combination
of ROTC with the MIT curriculum has been difficult.
I won't lie.
It feels like I have kind of a full-time job,
in addition to being a full-time student at a pretty
difficult institution.
But it's really inspiring to be around a group of people that
is so motivating and sort of has the same ambitions as you,
the same, I guess, value system.
THOMAS EDELMAN: We spend so much time together
that we become friends.
Because you're spending 12 to 20 hours a week
working together, and spending time together, and all working
towards the same goal, you get really close.
And you learn so much about what drives other the people, why
they're here, where they come from,
their backgrounds, and what drives them to serve.
IAN WAITZ: MIT has had military science classes since we first
opened our doors in 1865.
And for us, the ROTC students represent a very
special cohort.
These are tremendously talented students
who have also made a commitment to serve their country very
early in their life.
MIT students tend to pursue lots of different things
with passion, whether that's in terms of scholarship
or athletics or music, or a whole variety of clubs
and activities.
The ROTC students put a significant fraction
of their own sort of discretionary energy, outside
of classes and other things, into learning
how to become leaders in service of the nation.
And it's inspiring that they're doing this for all of us.
JULIANA SILLDORFF: There's sort of a set
of general requirements that are going
to be the same for every single year you are in the program.
The first thing is PT, physical training.
We have that twice a week, at 6 to 7 AM.
CHLOE BROWN: We had them on Monday, Wednesday, Friday,
and they are from 7 to 8 AM in the morning.
THOMAS EDELMAN: We'll have PT twice a week.
Right now it's Wednesday and Friday mornings from 7 to 8 AM.
JULIANA SILLDORFF: And then right after PT, we
go into our Naval science classes.
CHLOE BROWN: Additionally, we have a weekly class.
THOMAS EDELMAN: We also have Air Force class.
You have to learn time management.
You have to learn really good time management
skills to be able to succeed.
Juggling both being an MIT student
and being an Air Force ROTC, you learn to prioritize things.
You learn to finish the most important
most pressing things first.
CHLOE BROWN: And the army also teaches
you a lot of discipline.
So you're getting up early to work out.
You have these events that you require to go to.
You're required to dress and act in a certain way
when you're in uniform, which then I think can carry over
into your MIT life.
Not procrastinating, staying physically fit,
things like that.
PEDRO ALMEIDA: The experience itself at MIT
was certainly demanding from a time perspective.
Even as a cadet, you start figuring out
that there were sacrifices that you have to make to serve.
I think one of the things that I took away
is that you have to constantly remind yourself
of the why behind your sacrifice.
Why are you sacrificing.
And then those reasons for your sacrifices
grow in importance as you move on through your service.
And it also teaches character, and that's something
that I think that was something that I learned, and was exposed
to more at ROTC, that I also carried throughout my career.
JULIANA SILLDORFF: ROTC training is definitely
going to play a big role in at least my immediate job
as a Naval officer.
I've had a lot of specific training
about becoming a submarine officer specifically.
So after I graduate, I will be going down
to Charleston for nuclear power school,
in order to learn how to operate the nuclear reactor on board
the submarine.
THOMAS EDELMAN: I want to fly a fighter jet.
Always wanted to.
That would be the coolest thing in the world.
So I'm never going to give up on that one.
CHLOE BROWN: So when I graduate, I
will be joining the Army Reserves
as a military intelligence officer.
I'm going to be joining a unit called the 75th Innovation
Command.
It's more like innovative, more centered
around technology and things like that, which is actually
going to be fabulous, because I have a STEM degree from MIT.
So it's kind of right up my alley.
I definitely am super grateful that I
was able to come to this school, to come to MIT.
I've learned so much.
I've met so many amazing people.
And on the whole, ROTC has just added to that.
I got to do things that a normal person my age
would never get to do.
So I've been very blessed.