A little-known fact about me among my fellow peers is that I was in my high school's NJROTC unit. NJROTC stands for Naval Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps. There are many JROTC units across the country, but I happen to come from a very successful program. We won not one, not two, but six regional titles in a row. I was lucky to be a part of two of these titles.

My parents forced me to join the unit at the very beginning of high school. What do I mean by "forced?" They told me that I would have to attend the Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD if I did not agree to be a cadet. In hindsight, I now know how improbable this is, but when you're 14 and don't yet have a lot of experience with Google or the ways of the military, you'll believe almost anything.

Much to my surprise, I was named class leader in my first period Naval Science 1 class, even though I was not the smartest or the strongest cadet, nor was I the best at marching. My instructor, Master Chief, saw the potential in me, even if I didn't see it myself.

I was not confident, I didn't study as much as I should have, I didn't spend as much time on my uniform as I should have, I didn't have enough discipline to keep from fidgeting or laughing during inspection. I was almost embarrassed being in the program. I took my uniform off the second I got home and joked with my friends that I was going to quit.

In fact, I almost did quit. I told Master Chief that I would not be registering for the program next year. I ended up crying and being told how much potential I had as not only a cadet, but a leader. I can only thank Master Chief for this, because I have no idea where I would be in life without this talk.

The following summer, I was sent to boot camp for a week, despite efforts to hide the opportunity from my mother. That was honestly the worst week of my life. This was where I realized that the military was most definitely not for me. I would cry in the three minute cold showers we were allowed. Six years later, I still cannot bring myself to use the shampoo that I used that week.

However, despite all the crying, I learned about pride. I was put in Charlie Company, and while I for sure did not stick out in a sea of neon green shirts, we had a lot of pride, collectively. I learned how to do things not just for myself, but to make my commanding officer (in the future, my boss) look good.

At the end of my NS 2, or sophomore, year, I was given a position as an assistant in our unit's supply room. This, was the turning point for me in high school and in my ROTC experience. My instructors saw something in me that I did not. Potential.

I worked in that supply room all summer, taking inventory, issuing uniforms to new cadets and fixing uniforms of current cadets. I took pride in my work, and soon enough, I took pride in my unit, my co-workers and, most importantly, myself and my ability to be a leader.

I started blowing off cheerleading activities to spend more time with other cadets, which I eventually quit after the end of the season. I quit badminton in order to be more involved. At this point, I knew my high school life had taken a turn.

I attempted to perfect my uniform every week. I actually studied, so much so that I was put on the academic team. I stopped fidgeting during inspection, but laughing took a bit more work.

At my first Area 3 West regional competition, I placed eighth out of about 100 cadets who took the academic test. I traveled to Florida with the drill team to take the test and be inspected. It was one of my favorite memories from high school.

At the end of that year, it was announced that we had a high enough enrollment to become a regiment (over 300 cadets). I was named not only Supply Officer, but Delta Company Commander.

Life at this point was great. I was only becoming more and more aware of my leadership abilities. I was developing more pride for my school and my unit. Most importantly, the supply room was in tip-top shape. You could say that JROTC was life at this point.

Many senior cadets attempt to either join the military or attend college on an ROTC scholarship. To this day, I still feel a bit guilty about having to tell my instructor, Commander, that I did not want either of those things, but I knew that the military life was not something I wanted to continue after high school.

Many people have the misconception that JROTC is just pre-training for the military or other ROTC programs. These people are extremely incorrect. There are multiple focuses for this program, and only one has to do with the military as a "possible" career. The majority of them have to do with leadership and providing opportunities for students to become leaders.

In November of that year, I had an interview for a scholarship at Northern Michigan University. The person who was originally supposed to interview me had an emergency conflict, so the replacement did not really know much about the whole process.

The interview was supposed to last thirty minutes. It was over an hour. Why? He found out I was in JROTC, and we talked about the military for all but about fifteen minutes. I got the scholarship.

We won Area 3 West yet again. Since this was the year of the sequester, Navy Nationals in Florida was canceled. They held a virtual nationals instead. This was the first time that the actions of government personally affected me.

The rest of the year was spent clinging to my unit, my academic team, my increasingly messy supply room and finalizing college plans. I cried when it was all over. I miss everything about being in the unit.

Neither of my parents are in the military. None of my grandparents were in the military. No one in my family has plans of joining the military, and none of us still plan on it, including myself. However, I still to this day, cannot thank my parents enough for making me join JROTC.

I learned the phonetic alphabet, military time, naval history, marching, naval operations, basic first aid, the chain of command and many other pieces of knowledge that I can now show off in trivia-focused games, but I also learned about honor, discipline, commitment, integrity and caring about something much bigger than oneself.

I believe that the JROTC program helped me and many other cadets find their leadership style, their ability to lead and gave them something to care about in their community.

Thank you to my instructors, my fellow cadets, and the United States Navy for giving me many opportunities and a lifetime of memories. I will forever cherish the lessons I needed to learn from this opportunity. Once a Zee Bee, always a Zee Bee.