C Company Report

Cadet Nick Thompson – I have been at Robert Land Academy for three years now. I’m a Grade 11 student and next year I will make a huge decision about choosing post-secondary education.

To be honest, I’m not fully sure of what career I would want to do for 12 months a year and reflecting on Robert Land Academy’s 5 values, the values are not just for the time you’re at RLA. These values are for life.

I am currently reading “So Help Me God” by Mike Pence, the former Vice President of the United States of America. The book quotes “climb your own mountain and reach to the top before doing something else.”

While I was here I have been a problem and I did things I really shouldn’t have done. This year I displayed negative behaviour and wasn’t a member of the Company and did not want to be part of RLA.

I was called to the C Coy office and Captain Lee demoted me. At first I thought that being a Recruit meant nothing to me. That would change.

I started thinking about what I wanted from the Academy, what I needed to have success in my life and at RLA. I learned something that had held me back for a long time. I always liked to be negative about the Academy and instead of getting things I wanted, I was losing them. I wanted to get things and gain things. That meant I needed to act properly.

I came back from Stand Down and got my rank back and then started training for Bataan. A marathon that is held annually in New Mexico to remember the POWs who were marched 106 km on the Bataan Peninsula in World War II. I haven’t been told yet 100% that I am going but I’m really happy that I decided to change because if I kept on the path I was on I likely wouldn’t have been asked if my parents were okay with me going.

The quote from the book, “climb your own mountain” is really and honestly a reality in life.

I really like two things, politics and flying.

I thought about serving in the Air Force and gaining experience in flying, though Robert Land Academy isn’t exactly an academy for gaining a pilot’s license, there are many things that the Academy does to help get there.

The values have made me think about what I want for myself.

Even though the mountain will have ups and downs, wherever I choose to go I have a long way to go and success will depend on everything.

The Academy’s values are what are driving me to strive to have the motivation to never give up.

Aim High is the motto of the United States Air Force. Along with climbing my mountain, I aim high to strive for my future.