Honors and Scholars

By: Cadet Dae-Hyuc "Duck" Yim, Class of 2014

Being an AFROTC cadet and in the Honors and Scholars program, you will be expectedly busier than the student who does not participate in either. However, you will never really notice it. In both organizations, high achieving and successful peers surround you, so your level of productivity does not seem absurd. After adjusting to the tempo of college and accepting your new lifestyle, the mindset on studies and AFROTC transforms into “those are things I just have to get done,” not, “why am I doing all these extra unnecessary activities?” After acclimating, compare yourself to the lay Ohio State student; you’ll find, and be proud of, a more hardworking and disciplined you.

Balancing AFROTC and Honors Architecture, a program notorious for its time-guzzling projects, is one of the bigger challenges I’ve encountered in my life. Four hours of sleep, a night is normal. At its worst, I have gone five days on eight hours of sleep with a 42-hour stretch of no sleep somewhere in the middle. It is not that I had poor time management skills; I just had THAT much work to accomplish. Nevertheless, if you cannot tell, I am proud to be able to say that. I’ve just begun the “prime of my life,” a time when I’m supposed to work hard and do “ridiculous” things. I’m busy all the time, endlessly running from one class, event and activity to another, but when I do get the chance to lie down in my bed at night, I know I haven’t wasted my day, my energy, or my potential.

You are a young adult in training to become an officer in the U.S. Air Force, accept the challenge to do more than you know you can. You might be surprised.

By: Cadet Gregory Hermack, Class of 2013

There have been two decisions that I have made while at college that I single handedly consider the best decisions of my college career and possibly my life: Join AFROTC and to be a part of the Engineering Scholars Program. I went into college knowing that I wanted to be a part of AFROTC. Both my dad and my grandfather were pilots in the Air Force and I aspired to follow their career routes.. The decision to join Engineering Scholars came after I had already been accepted to Ohio State. The biggest marketing point and reason for me joining engineering scholars was housing with other engineering scholar students. If I had not joined both of these organizations, my college career would have been entirely different. AFROTC has been an incredible experience and has greatly prepared me for the rest of my life. Freshman year, I was fortunate enough to be picked up for a scholarship with the Air Force. Although I did not need this scholarship to continue my education, it helped immensely in making Ohio State affordable to an out of state student. Graduating college with no loans is a feat that many students cannot claim. Then, I was awarded a pilot slot through the Air Force. This news essentially made my career dream a reality. Even if I had not been awarded a pilot slot, I would have still gained a lot of leadership training and had a job with the world’s best Air Force after college.

Furthermore, joining Engineering Scholars was easily my second best decision. All my close friends in college are either ROTC or Engineering Scholars students. I have lived with the same seven students for the past three years and I spend most of my free time with the students that lived on my scholars floor freshman year. Engineering Scholars grouped me with students who were all taking the same core engineering classes and who had similar interests. Living with the other Engineering scholars was an incredible resource for class work during freshman year. If I ever had a question on any assignment, I could go down the hall and find many other students who were in the same class and were working on the same piece of homework. This academic living setting set me up for academic success throughout my college career.

Juggling ROTC with Scholars and a full engineering course load has been difficult at times. The commitment for ROTC consists of two early morning Physical Training sessions (waking up at 5 a.m.), a 48-minute academic class during your first two years and a 78-minute class your last two years, and a 2-hour lab each week. Scholars typically wasn’t time consuming and allowed the students to be as active as their schedule would allow. The only mandatory scholar’s event was a 1-hour meeting either once a week or once every two weeks. At times, attempting to juggle all of these activities has been challenging, but being busy has taught me how to efficiently use my time. The benefits of both ROTC and Engineering Scholars far outweigh the challenges of scheduling and time management. If I had to go through college again, the two choices that I would definitely make again would be to join ROTC and to be a part of the Engineering Scholars program.

By: Cadet Daniel Myers, Class of 2013

As a first-year Ohio State student, I was enrolled in both AFROTC and the Environment and Natural Resources (ENR) Scholars program. Initially, I had some conflicting time requirements between the two organizations but my Scholars adviser was lenient and understanding about the fact that AFROTC took precedence. As a general rule however, the two organizations seldom interfered with one another. ENR Scholars met only once a week, usually to take a brief trip or listen to a guest lecturer, and otherwise had a negligible time commitment. If you are considering doing a Scholars program, I would highly encourage it. Not only do you get a class scheduling priority over other students, but you also get to meet and live with people who share your interests in whatever program you pursue.

You do not normally have to major in a related field to apply to a particular Scholars program. I joined ENR Scholars as a history major, simply because I liked the concept. If you happen to be studying something related however, you will conveniently be living in a residence hall with lots of other students taking the same classes, which can be beneficial. As an added bonus, Scholars students typically live on north campus, much closer to Converse Hall where ROTC cadets spend a lot of time. Doing Scholars and ROTC is a little bit of a balancing act, but no more than college in general. With proper time management, you can pursue a variety of interests at Ohio State and you should. To have a truly fulfilling experience, it is important to take advantage of the endless opportunities that Ohio State has to offer.

By: Cadet Kaitlyn Berthy, Class of 2013

Balancing the time demands of ROTC on top of the rigorous coursework of the Honors program has been an interesting--and sometimes difficult--experience. Since you often have to take the Honors version of courses (which means that more is expected out of you in terms of work and quality of work), you have to be prepared to commit a good deal of your time to school in order to succeed. One thing that has really helped me is proper time management, which has saved me time and again when it comes to balancing Honors coursework and ROTC. Another thing that has helped me has been treating all three components of ROTC as part of a single class. That is, I consider Physical Training and Leadership Laboratory to simply be an extension of Air Science, and thus put in the same amount of time for all three components just like I would for any other class. My biggest advice would be to research what being in the Honors program entails. I definitely signed up before doing research, which meant I was blindsided and wasn't initially prepared to handle Honors 

By: Cadet T. Christian Landreth, Class of 2012

I am a member of the Politics, Society and Law Scholars Program (PSL). Being involved in both organizations has been extremely beneficial to me. As a PSL member, I have had the opportunity to travel to Washington, DC and Chicago, meet a variety of public officials from Congressmen to FBI officers, network with influential community leaders and engage in community service activities like Habitat for Humanity. I have never had to sacrifice PSL for ROTC or vice-versa. PSL meetings are generally on Tuesday evenings, with extra activities sometimes available on the weekends. I wanted to attend Ohio State because of the endless possibilities that are available to students, and ROTC and PSL are a part of that. As a scholar, I have received priority scheduling during my four years of college, which has helped me graduate on time, while also being able to work during my first two years of college. Along with being in ROTC, PSL has been a great resume booster that has not only helped me obtain internships, but also was a huge talking point during my Judge Advocate General (JAG) interview, which I ultimately was accepted.

Bottom line is, doing both is more than doable, as I have been in PSL, ROTC, worked 20-hours a week and participated in intramurals all at the same time while maintaining a stellar grade point average. Another advantage is the $350 scholarship I get PER QUARTER from PSL. Additionally, because I am on scholarship with ROTC, which means I get a $350 check at the beginning of each quarter to use as necessary in addition to my stipend, book money and tuition being paid in full.

By: Cadet Anthony Ponzi

Most people come to college with either a small idea of what major they want or absolutely no clue what they want to do, but if you talk to basically anybody in the Atmospheric Science program at Ohio State, you would find that most of us have known for a long time that we wanted to major in weather. It’s very true that the major is small, and it is most definitely filled with huge weather nerds, but it can be for anybody with an interest in how the Earth works!

The major is certainly not for everyone.It requires Physics 1250 and 1251, Chemistry 1210, and all the way up to Differential Equations, but if you are able to get through the tough General Education courses (GE), you’ll find that the classes become much smaller, more intimate, and a lot more interesting. So far, I have taken Basic Meteorology, which is an introduction class to the atmosphere and meteorology, Synoptic Meteorology Lab, which is the start of analyzing weather maps, and Boundary Layer Climatology. I have found all three classes to be interesting and fun, and I am super excited to continue taking more weather classes. For those worried about the size of Ohio State, the Atmospheric Science program and the Department of Geography as a whole can make the campus feel smaller. It is a small major, and all of the staff, faculty and advisors are extremely helpful and very knowledgeable. I have always felt welcomed and can’t wait to meet more people. If you have the time, the Meteorology Club is a great way to meet people in the major, go on cool field trips, and interact with professionals.

Now how does this all tie into the Air Force? Well, as I was searching for colleges and deciding what I wanted to do with my life back in high school, I found out that the Air Force has one of the leading weather programs in the country, later on, I found out that the Air Force is in need of Weather Specialists and Weather Officers, then, I found out that Meteorology/Atmospheric Science is a tech major, and it all fell into place. One most likely doesn’t think about being a weatherman in the military, but it truly is an important aspect, particularly for pilots. For anyone with an interest in weather, I highly recommend checking out the Department of Geography’s website or getting in contact with someone in the major. And for those interested in the Air Force, know that you are going into a high tech, important, fascinating field that is extremely rewarding.