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Cadet Lieutenant Colonel Jamie Morris

Jamie Morris is a member of the White Mountains branch of Future Farmers of America and is on the school's cheerleading team. She is also a Cadet Lieutenant Colonel in JROTC, going to Nationals with the unit's Color Guard as a sophomore and junior. She hopes to go again this year.

Morris moved to the North Country from Connecticut five years ago. She says it was "definitely a culture shock" and credits JROTC with helping her adjust to the new setting.

"No one really told me to do JROTC. I moved up and had no idea what to do. I started because it had the military aspect-respect and discipline. It's helped a lot with organization and given a lot of opportunities to see what works for me. The program has you keep an agenda. My agenda is literally my life," she says, laughing.

Morris believes her training will help her to be more confident and well-adjusted in the future:

"The best part of the program is the leadership skills you gain. When I was a freshman, I was really shy. (JROTC) teaches you discipline and respect for other people. It also has helped me realize what's going on in the world."

There are some pressures that come with joining the program, Morris admits:

NH JROTC: Cadets have a high sense of community service.

NH JROTC: Cadets have a high sense of community service.

"I think people expect more from you."

Besides outside expectations, some issues arise within the unit:

"Everyone is a big family. There's tension, but it's family tension."

Morris' parents wholeheartedly support her participation in JROTC, she says:

"My dad's very supportive. He loves the program-he knows how shy I was before. My mom loves everything I do."

Her boyfriend, who was also in JROTC, is similar in his support:

"He was actually the one who encouraged me to join. He taught me to be a good role model. He's very respectful, honest. He has good integrity."

Morris admits that she is undecided where her JROTC will take her after she graduates:

"I applied to some of the military institutes. I'm not sure if I want to go military or study veterinary science."

Regardless of where she ends up, Morris is sure of one thing:

"(JROTC) has pretty much changed my life. I don't know what I would do without it."

A Parent's Perspective

Wanda Dami has been involved with JROTC for five years. She has been an active member of the White Mountain Regional High School (WMRHS) JROTC Parent Group, which organizes fundraisers and volunteers to drive the cadets to out-of-town events and competitions, for four and a half years. For the last two years, she has also served as its President. Like LTC Gearhart and Ms. Morris, Mrs. Dami is similarly enthusiastic in her support of the program-and with good reason.

Her family's military blood runs deep-Mrs. Dami's husband was in the United States Marine Corps, her father served in the Marines and the Maine Army National Guard, and her father-in-law is in the Navy.

In recent years, Mrs. Dami is proud to say, the family has passed this military tradition on to her children through the WMRHS JROTC program. Though she admits their desire to participate did not come immediately, both her son and daughter have since taken quite the shine to the program:

"As an incoming freshman, my son, Joseph, was not enrolled in the JROTC program. Instead, he was encouraged to take a study hall. At the close of the first day of his Freshman year, he said to me, 'Mom, I am signing up for JROTC. Study hall is awful!' That was the beginning of four successful years in JROTC." (continued...)