Home is Where the Heart Is, But Family Makes the Home.

Last week, I was very much in a tizzy. It was a time when I was contemplating what to schedule because I am literally a nomad in the major world. I have been through about ten majors since my admission to Penn State. The first one was biology, then biological anthropology, psychology, then back to biology, then Security and Risk Analysis, then Biobehavioral Health and many, many more. Now I am back to Security and Risk Analysis because I wanted to see if something that wasn't really taught in high school would "fit" me.

So um what does this little review of my indecisiveness of what my major is to be have to with today's blog post topic: "Home is Where the Heart Is, But Family Makes the Home"? Last weeks post also discussed what it means to me that major somewhat aligns with what I would be willing to do in the Air Force after college. However, I also discussed that if I would go on the medical school path I would more than likely have to quit ROTC because I lot of the classes I need overlap with my ROTC classes or at least make my days extremely complicated when getting around campus. The likelihood of getting a medical school spot in ROTC is extremely limited and competitive because of the 4 year service commitment incurred from ROTC.

I have some great news; I am staying in ROTC no matter what happens!

This past Tuesday, the Cadet Wing and Cadre had Combat Dining In. Combat Dining In is a tradition that dates back to the time of Queen Elizabeth I. It has become a fun tradition in the Air Force with intertwined things like drinking from the Grog (a toilet bowl with random ingredients put in by each flight and mixed together), water gun and water balloon fights, and flight relays.

Here are some videos that show a little bit of the tradition. Each Wing or Air Force organization puts on Combat Dining In is slightly differently, but every one still has the main components.


 

I just so happen to have been on the committee in charge of setting this whole event up. When I first heard about it I was a bit scared because drinking a weird solution and getting dirty really are not my things, but this was a mandatory event, so I had to go anyway. Hey, college is for getting out of your comfort zone, right?

There I was on Tuesday braced with my water gun, ready to shoot some of my fellow cadets. There I was ready to win the flight relays. There I was putting face paint all over my face. At first I was like this is not me, but then I realized this was me. This is who I, a goofball at heart, am.

However, the one thing that I came to realize more than anything that night was through all my contemplation about if I should stay or leave ROTC there was something that kept me coming back. That very thing was that the Air Force ROTC program not only felt like a home because it gave me a niche, but it was a home because of the people in it. I realized that I never want to leave the ROTC program because these people have become a part of my heart. I never want to let go of this beautiful piece of my heart.

TIFFANY N. SEIBERT, C/4c, AFROTC