Page 11 - Priorities #46 2010-March/April

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by Liam Thompson ‘09
Priory Style
My arrival at college was very different compared to your average stu- dent. During the winter of my senior year at Woodside Priory, I applied for a Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps Marine Option scholarship. While I had a pretty good idea of what I was getting into, nothing could have prepared me for the day I stepped off the
bus at Newport Naval Station for Freshman Orientation Training.
What you’ve seen in the movies about the stereotypical screaming drill instructor is true, but this was not a movie. I got off the bus and ran through a gauntlet of drill instructors yelling at me. I knew then that my journey to be-
come a Marine Corps Officer was not going to be easy.
As an ROTC student, I have one foot in the civilian world and one in the
military. For a large part of my time in college, I’m just your everyday run-of-the-mill college student. I go to classes, do homework, live in dorms and eat at the dining hall with everyone else. However, unlike your average college student, I’m training to become a
leader for a force that has served the United States for 235 years. I will eventually be re- sponsible for accomplishing difficult and potentially dangerous missions while looking
out for the welfare, and indeed the lives, of Marines and the United States.
My experience at Woodside Priory strengthened my commitment to serve. Some- times students think that the Priory exists in a kind of bubble, but the Priory mantra that students should “serve a world in need of their gifts” has stuck with me. Many of the lessons I learned at the Priory, including the need to serve the world and be a part of
something larger than myself, are serving me well in college.
Many of the chapel talks and community service activities that we
participated in revealed that the outside world is very much in need of dedicated individuals willing to com-
mit themselves to serving others. For me, this
strengthened my decision to join the military. I feel that serving the military is the best way
for me too give back to America and to all those people, including the teachers and staff who help
to make Priory such a special place. We are all called to serve each other and make a differ-
ence in the world and I’m thankful that the Priory is a place that continues to help stu-
dents discover and develop their passions.