On October 8th, students from our JROTC class had the opportunity to tour the UCF campus. During this tour, students were able to receive information about the college ROTC program and daily life at UCF. A lot of students felt like this was a great learning experience, and would gladly accept other opportunities like this one.
The first stop during this trip was a sit-down talk discussing the program’s benefits and amenities with the local ROTC instructors. An open discussion was started for everyone to speak up and ask questions. A lot of students were interested in the class arrangements and how they would be able to balance school and the ROTC program. It was explained that ROTC students at UCF only have two classes per week, one for hands-on training and the other for presentations. Junior Kendall Ricks learned a lot from this discussion. “I wasn’t aware of the benefits, now that I’ve really learned about the experience, I am considering applying to UCF for Fall of 2027. Although it was really hot, it was an experience that I’d be willing to enjoy again!” she explained. The campus visit cleared up a lot for the visiting students.
The next stop was a learning game and a test on ROTC facts. Although this was a knowledge test, everyone had a great time and learned a lot. It also gave the students a chance to mingle. The first tour guide, Tyler, split our groups into three sections, and at the end, Team 1 won the challenge. Freshman Mariah Johnson said, “I knew a lot of the answers, so when I went, it wasn’t an issue.” The Point of the game was whoever got the answer correct had the opportunity to make a 3-point shot, if you missed, you didn’t get the point. The questions were regarding what we learned on the Trip and what we learned in our ROTC classes.
Our tour around the campus had multiple stops visiting different sites like the Chemistry and Biology building, the Student Union, the Workout building, and many more. We had the pleasure of walking inside some of them and learning some interesting information. A fun fact that we learned is that the Disney World ride “Space Mountain” gave one of their prototypes to UCF because their Engineering Program helped design it. Freshman Emily Emilien stated that “it was really nice to look at the prototype, it brought me memories from when I went to Disney.”
Overall, this was an amazing experience for everyone. There was not a student left without a positive memory to recall from this experience. Everyone had a blast, and some students are even considering applying to UCF thanks to this field trip. Looking forward, everyone is excited to have another engaging opportunity like this in JROTC in the future. Learning about UCF and all of the possibilities it opens and meeting new people made for a very fun and educational opportunity.
