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fore school each day. After a few weeks we were given a written exam.
I scored second highest. There were vacancies for six captain commis-
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fellows selected were read aloud. My name was notably absent from
that entire list. The ROTC program was administered by an old, regular
Army sergeant. He made the appointments. Friends later told me that
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There was still one captaincy vacancy. A week later, we were
given another examination. I scored highest in the class. However, an-
other fellow was appointed captain. I was disappointed and angry.
There were a couple of alternatives open to me:
1. I could quit ROTC and announce why.
2. I could go to the school principal and report what was going on.
This, however, could hurt a decent kid who had been appointed and
he wasnt the one who had done the cheating.
3. I could demonstrate that I could take being cheated out of the ap-
pointment and could show my qualities in other school activities.
I chose option C. After talking with my friends, we decided that I
should seek election as senior class president. Friends rallied and helped
me. My chief opponent was a good-looking, decent fellow supported by
a group of athletes. I won the election by a margin of seven votes. What
a delight it was to win it even caused me to walk past the election an-
nouncement in the main hall a couple of times!
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Club. I was elected president. Students interested in international af-
fairs met periodically. Joining them was natural for me. They elected me
president of the Cosmopolitan Club, as it was called.
My senior year in high school was incredibly busy and supreme-
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to be the master of ceremonies at some school assemblies. This was
fun. Our Cosmopolitan Club wrote and performed the program that was
voted the best student assembly of the year. By mid-year, the student
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