Rolling Around in the Dirt...

Most people would not like the fact that on a cold autumn day someone would insist that the roll around in the dirt. However, that is exactly what someone told me to do, get down on the ground and put my face in the dirt. I was in this clunky camo uniform because the Uniform Room only issues the less clunky uniform in February.

The last thing I wanted to do was lay in the cold, wet grass and dirt, but I was at Lead Lab and this is where they teach you to be comfortable with the face in the dirt thing.

After a few minutes of instruction and my own contemplation of whether I should just avoid the exercise all together by asking to go to the bathroom, I had my body on the ground. Little critters were greeting me and when instructed to put all of my body parts as close to the ground as possible, they became "my best friends".

 There I was acting like I was holding a fake gun with my fellow 1st year cadets, and someone motivational-yelling at all of us to "embrace the ground".

My high school ballerina self would have looked at the person yelling and said ever so politely, "I can sit in the grass and dirt, but not drag my face in it because I want to go for dinner after this and, um, I can't have dirt all over me."

Yes, I was a ballerina in high school. I absolutely loved ballet. I was also never one to love getting my feet dirty at all, let alone my whole body. They say that college is for trying things that are new, so I thought I would try to be a tough girl, well, at least in an ROTC setting!

I feel like that is a sort of a stereotype that most girls face when going into any branch of ROTC. It sort of is created due to the lack of knowledge among students in college. People view ROTC students, especially girls, as "tough chicks", who can't have any fun because they have to be working with boys all the time.

Well, I would like to correct that stereotype because most of the girls in ROTC are some of the most girly people I know. They dye their hair occasionally, love to shop, and wear cute scarfs and boots on their non-uniform days. In fact, one of the girl ROTC cadets is a cheerleader; isn't that the most peppiest, girl-associated sport/activity you can think of?

Did you ever see that commercial by Always called, "#Likeagirl"? Well, I like to think that this is me and the rest of the girls in ROTC; we just so happen to roll in the dirt #likeagirl.

TIFFANY N. SEIBERT, C/4C, AFROTC