PAX ROTC Highlight

By: Bridget Carroll 

The Patuxent High School ROTC program is more than the uniforms and inspections. They’re more of a family. Those who enter the program will build connections that they never thought they’d build with other students. Let’s dive further into the program through the opinions of its participants.  

Commanding Officer: Senior Sanise Jefferson 

Sanise Jefferson enjoys being CO because she gets to build relationships with the kids from freshmen year to senior year, and she loves seeing them grow and mature. CO’s favorite moment from all four years of ROTC was coming back from competitions and eating dinner with a group of people who felt so much like family. She wanted to join ROTC because she has dreamed of joining the military after high school, and it gives her a better chance of getting in and gaining higher rank by joining right away. She would recommend ROTC to someone else because you gain friends, and you feel a part of something. It helps you build leadership, discipline, and makes you a better person.  

Senior: Darius Butler 

Darius Butler’s favorite part of the unit is leading the younger generation and seeing them grow. “When I first was introduced to ROTC, I knew immediately that I wanted to be a part of this program.” he expressed. “It’s bigger than myself and I knew I’d put the time and effort into it.”  

  Butler’s on the drill team, Color Guard, Drone crew, and Orienteering. He enjoys being in these groups because they're very active and an expansion on ROTC. Butler enjoys being a part of ROTC because he gets to watch and lead the younger generation, and he enjoys giving them the fundamental skills to be successful.  

Commander Jacob Hinz

  He wanted to be an instructor of Pax ROTC because he felt called to continue service and to train his future replacements. His favorite part about the teams is that it gives people an opportunity to try something new and for them to get continuously better. It’s also to test themselves and for students to learn that it's okay to fail. His favorite moment so far as an instructor is watching the brand-new cadets graduating from BLT/their initial training. He enjoys being a part of Paxnation because his daughter graduated from here and he wanted to be part of this amazing school.  

Freshman Aiden Barling

He’s most excited for the companionship and to learn leadership. His favorite moment so far as a freshman is building our rockets. He enjoys ROTC because you get to make a lot of connections with people you don’t know, and it’s like a family. He gets excited to come to ROTC every day because he gets to learn something new when he steps into the classroom. 

Senior Chief Emerson Taylor 

Emerson Taylor’s advice for the incoming freshman and for anyone who wants to be a member of ROTC is just do it. If you’re seen as a loser, you wouldn’t be considered that in 2 years after joining. You would be an entirely different person. So just do it. If he could go back and change anything, it would be to go back and redo the part where he slacked so much early on. The life lesson that Emerson will be carrying with him when he graduates would be, “if you like something enough you need to get up and try hard enough. It will then feel effortless.” His favorite part about being Senior Chief is that he gets more respect, and he enjoys meeting new people.