New Student Orientation: A Midshipman’s Journey to Joining NCSU NROTC

This year, I attended NC State’s New Student Orientation (NSO) for their incoming fourth class of Midshipmen. This orientation is a four-day-long introduction to what life will be like as a Midshipman at NCSU. We were welcomed by some of the NROTC staff when we arrived on NC State’s campus on the first day.

Then, we were given some of our issued gear and were directed through the plan of the day. After an introductory session with the staff and the Commanding Officer, the Midshipmen were taken to Reynolds Coliseum to begin the paperwork process.

After our day was done with ROTC, we were given time to move into our on-campus housing. During this time, everyone was very helpful as we transitioned from our old high school lives into getting ready for our college experience. The first day was definitely overwhelming with all the new information and our newfound freedom, but we had lots of help and support from the people in ROTC.

Our second day of NSO consisted of a mock physical readiness test (PRT) where we conducted our pushups, plank and 1.5 or 3-mile runs. This experience allowed us to learn about what these tests will look like here at NC State which was very important because we will do them twice a semester.The rest of our day was a continuation of the paperwork process to finish that up.

On the third day, we did a campus run, which allowed us to see all of the campus and we spent some time at the Memorial Belltower. The run was three miles long and ended at the Belltower, which was where we did our workout after the run. It was a great workout for the freshmen, and it gave us a good introduction to what physical training (PT) will be in the battalion. For this PT, the rest of the battalion was invited to come with us for the workout. It was great to see all the support we had and to meet some new people from the battalion.

Throughout that morning, we sat in on some important lectures regarding uniforms and regulations, nutrition and foot care. These were all extremely insightful and helpful as we are transitioning into a life on our own.

We finished the day with unarmed drill, a practice designed to teach discipline and immediate response to commands. Drill involves stationary and marching maneuvers, executed in a platoon of about fifteen people. During drill, we are given commands to follow, allowing us to practice what we learned at New Student Indoctrination (NSI) and further develop our understanding of what will be expected of us here. 

The final day of NSO took us off campus! We were able to spend the day at Camp Butner, where we did a 3-mile ruck, the obstacle course and leadership reaction courses with groups. We truly got the full experience with MREs (“Meal, Ready-to-Eat” kits)  and the training camp. This was a challenging day but it was very rewarding and fun. The freshmen went through the obstacle course with their third class squad leader. I enjoyed running the course as a group because we were able to support each other and work together. I found the leadership reaction courses to be very enjoyable because we were able to problem solve and put our heads together to figure out each scenario. We all bonded, spent time with each other, and learned together. After our day at Camp Butner, we returned to campus for a Consortium Cookout with Duke and UNC’s incoming Midshipmen. 

Overall, NSO was a great transition and experience after our time at NSI. The orientation allowed us to learn from the 3/Cs and staff what was expected of us as we entered the battalion.

I truly enjoyed my time at NSO, because I feel that those days were exactly what we needed to succeed in our transition into being a Midshipman. Everyone who worked to put it together took time to make sure they were able to cover all the areas we needed help with and they answered all of our questions. NSO made our adjustment into college and ROTC easier and I am grateful for it.