Joel's Summer Training + Back to School!

Hello again!

I had a bit to say last week, when I introduced my good friend and ex-staff member, Harald Overa's guest blog post. We actually also celebrated Harald's 22nd birthday on Saturday, so the past week was definitely an eventful week for him!

A happy bunch celebrating Harald's 22nd!

Anyways, let's rewind back to this Summer. This Summer was really eventful for me, I attended Cadet Summer Training 2017 (Advanced Camp), visited Los Angeles, CA, Vancouver, BC and also Tanzania on a Cadet Training Deployment.

Advanced Camp is a commissioning requirement for all MSIII Cadets. It is held annually at Ft. Knox, Kentucky, and cadets have to endure the summer heat as well. In other words, it was a big deal. We had to endure a month of physical, tactical and mental challenges in order to graduate and pass camp. As a MSIV Cadet this year, I am also tasked with managing the PLU ROTC Battalion and Advanced Camp has allowed me to hone my skills and apply things I've learned here. I have less than 8 months before graduating from PLU and commissioning as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army so I can't wait for that!

Graduation March - Cadet Summer Training 2nd Regiment Graduation

After Advanced Camp, I got to return to WA for 11 days and relax. During that time, I visited Vancouver, BC and Los Angeles, CA with buddies! It was a great time to just recuperate and chill as my body was not only physically exhausted, but mentally tired as well.

11 days later, I returned back to Ft. Knox, Kentucky in order to prepare for my training deployment to Tanzania. I was in Tanzania for about 3 weeks, and it was an amazing experience. My team mainly taught English to students in a local school, but we did get to meet Tanzanian military personnel and also had the American Chargé d’Affaires, Inmi Patterson come visit.

Not only did we immerse ourselves in the culture, we also learned Ki-Swahili for an hour every workday. We spoke basic Ki-Swahili by the time we were done with our mission.

Soccer with the local teachers in Tanzania!

 

Tanzania Team 7!

After all my experiences and travels during the Summer, it was eventually time to return to PLU! I was involved in the New International Student Orientation and the New Cadet Orientation Program at PLU during orientation week, so that was a busy time. I am now about a month into school, and everything's going great. I'm busy with school work and ROTC, but every day's a great day!

Take care for now!

Joel Goh