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2LT Jennifer Patterson, Class of 2008
"I commissioned with the class of 2008, graduating from the OU College of Nursing with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. I am now stationed at Fort Bragg, NC for my first duty station and am having a blast working in the hospital and meeting new people! I love being a nurse, and I love being a Soldier!
I joined ROTC my junior year after talking to a few of my friends in the program, and I decided it was something I was interested in since I would be able to help not just people, but the people protecting our freedoms - our Soldiers. I attended the Leader Training Course (LTC) during the summer prior to my junior year of college. LTC is a basic training course for ROTC cadets, complete with Drill Sergeants, very long days, and everything a basic trainee would get - only crammed into four tough weeks at Fort Knox. Although it was very physically and emotionally challenging, it really prepared me for my MS III year in ROTC and for Leader Development and Assessment Course (LDAC) at Fort Lewis, WA the following summer.
During my ROTC years I also participated in the Simultaneous Membership Program (SMP), which allowed me to serve concurrently in the Army Reserve as a Company Executive Officer (XO) - one weekend a month, two weeks a year. I later left my unit when I became a scholarship cadet for nursing, which gave me the opportunity to attend the Nurse Summer Training Program (NSTP) before my senior nursing semester. I went to Fort Bliss, TX for a month with other nursing cadets from around the country and got to work on the Labor and Delivery floor of the hospital. I started IVs, gave out medications, made charts, helped out with deliveries, and worked the triage. I even got to assist in performing a C-section. I learned and did more that summer than during most of my nursing clinicals.
Not every minute of ROTC was easy or fun - who really wants to get up and work out at six in the morning? However, I believe the overall experience was well worth the effort that I put into it. In just four years, I traveled to more than five different Army installations in as many different states. I was given many opportunities to do things that advanced not only my Army career but my nursing career as well. Above all, I made friends who I will know for the rest of my Army career and beyond. Joining the ROTC program was the best decision of my life, and I cannot wait to see where my life will go from here."
