One of the most immedeatly tangible benefits of being an ROTC Army Cadet--all of the leadership training, confidence building and wonderful people you meet aside--is the financial help you recieve. Wheather you're an undergraduate away from home for the first time, or someone (like me) seeking additional education, the money is most welcome. Higher education is expensive, there's no denying it. And if I can help defray the cost of that education while simultaniously serving my country, you can bet that that's a deal I'm going to take.

This monitary aid comes in two forms: a scholarship, and a bimonthly stipend. If you are selected to recieve a scholarship, you have the choice of asking the Army to fully cover your tuition, or to recieve a flat-rate scholarship based on the cost of living in your area. I chose the housing scholarship for myself, since here in San Diego we recieve the maximum housing scholarship allowed. (For those of you smart Cadets attending institutions like Harvard, though, the tuition scholarship would definetly be a better deal.) The extra money looked mighty fine in my bank account at the start of every semester, as did the seperate, additional money given to help defray the cost of books.

While the scholarship is vital for help paying for your education, your pay--given to all contracted cadets on the first and fifteenth of every month--is equally important. Not only does it help ensure you have money for necessities  throughout the year, it serves to emphasize one of the aspects of ROTC that many don't fully grasp until their third of fourth year: ROTC is a job. It's not just another class you can show up to and occasionally blow off. People, your peers, are counting on your to show up with a positive attitude and give your best effort. This is far more than is asked of a student in a regular class, and the Army recognizes this by paying you for it, just like you'd get paid for showing up to work. This was a godsend for me, since my education program doesn't allow me much time (and none this semester or next) to hold down a regular job. Those stipend checks are what allow me to do what I want to do--get an advanced degree, and become an Army officer. In addition to helping provide for essentials like gasoline and food, it also ensures you have some extra money for entertainment. Everyone, especially cadets,

I can speak firsthand about how important these sources of revenue are not just from the standpoint of someone who is benefiting from them, but from the standpoint of someone who is having to live without (one) of them now too. Unfortunetly for me, my scholarship was only good for two years; when my education program ended up forcing me to extend my university stay by another year, my scholarship was cut off. I still recieve my stipend (thank God), but it wasn't until this semester, when I had to take out several student loans, that I fully understood just how important that scholarship had been to me: it had allowed me to, up until now, go to school without going into debt. It was awfully, awfully painful to have to take those loans out, but as much as it hurt, I shudder to imagine how much more it would hurt to be in debt from the last two years in addition to this one.

In short, if serving in the Army as an officer is what you want to do, ROTC will offer funds to help make that dream become a reality--and it will happen while you're working towards your undergraduate or graduate degree. There aren't many better deals out there than that. The Army takes care of its own, and these education funding opportunities are one of the greatest examples of our commitment to that maxim.