Eduardo (February 2020)

High School, a trail in anyone's life and it is a time where people find their interests and identities. Some play sports, others go into things like school participation but, one group that is very underrated is JROTC.

There are countless jokes being made on the internet about kids in the program. ENTIRE meme pages are even made to aid the ostracization of these programs. However, the JROTC programs are way more influential than people give them credit for.

I myself being a JROTC cadet for four years, can say that the skills I have developed, the kind of camaraderie, leadership, and overall enjoyment the program has embellished onto me is definitely the highlight of my high school career at Yerba Buena.

Before someone reading this jumps to a conclusion and thinks that I am being biased, I want to make what the program has to offer more endorsed and perhaps inspire others to join as well.

There is definitely an understanding that for some people, JROTC may not be their thing and that is completely fine, but that doesn’t make the program a bad one.

The program is way more than, “readying kids to join the military,” which is a large misconception that most people think. The primary focus of the program is, “To motivate young people to be better citizens.”

Beneath the uniforms, drills, and disciplinary conditioning, or as we refer to it, “getting smoked or dropped,” are tons of great moments and very applicable skills to be learned.

To start, the class is meant to build leadership in the cadets and the purpose of JROTC is, “To motivate young people to be better citizens.”

The class also offers extracurriculars as well such as the color/honor guard, drill team(s), athletic team, and academic team. Cadets are encouraged to participate in these teams and the instructors, Sergeant First Class Roberto Placa and Major Chin advocate immensely for them.

With those teams in mind, the program is also an amazing asset to the school. Yerba Buena, as most, if not, all high schools do, have pep rallies and within those pep rallies, there is someone that sings the national anthem of our great nation. JROTC always has a color guard there displaying the colors, the California flag, and The Star Spangled banner.