How to graduate college, from a military perspective

by Hayden Beswetherick

Graduating college is not easy. The college dropout rate in the United States is 40% and in public universities, the average is higher at a 50% dropout rate, according to thinkimpact.com

“In 2019, student veterans had an average GPA of 3.39,” according to PNPI, The Postsecondary National Policy Institute. Also according to PNPIO, “In 2015, veteran students had a 54% completion rate, which was similar to the overall national average of 53% and higher than the 39% completion rate of other adult learners.”

This article is about how to apply skills learned through the military and ROTC to help you navigate through college. It includes firsthand accounts of how two ROTC cadets have applied these skills to college life and what has been beneficial to their college success.

Time management

An absolutely essential skill for success in life and college is time management. This skill must be used throughout your entire time at a university.

Planning is a way that Luke Schulze, a cadet at East Carolina University Army ROTC, manages his time. He says that time management and using a planner has been paramount in his success in college.

“I use a planner” said Schulze. “I never used a planner before, in high school.”

Using time management gives him time to plan for leisure activities and working out.

The method for time management that I utilize and that has helped me personally is backwards planning. Backwards planning is taught in ROTC and is where I learned how to efficiently plan. The framework used for this method is called the T-Week framework.

According to the United States Army Website, “The T-Week framework aligns the weeks before and after each training event to required actions or activities to plan and prepare. As an example, ‘Week T’ is the week of execution for an event.” Week T-6 is six weeks before execution. Week T+1 is the week after the event.

“I start with Friday and work my way back to Monday,” says Aaron Carey, an ROTC cadet at East Carolina University. He learned this method of planning in ROTC and has implemented it to be better prepared for schoolwork. He utilizes it to prioritize assignments. Schulze has also incorporated backwards planning in his everyday life.

Troop Leading Procedures are also useful. As taught by ROTC, it is an eight-step process that starts with receiving the mission, and ends with supervising and refining. These procedures are used to plan for operations in the United States Army. The TLP’s, however, can be adapted to the civilian side.

“When working on group projects, I use most or all the TLP’s to organize and create a plan for the projects. This helps me stay on track to create a plan, send out what needs to be done by who, and if anything needs to be refined,” says Carey.

TLP’s will help in freeing up time, by giving a methodology to planning which makes planning more systematic and efficient. Incorporating

TLP’s allows you to have more time for a social life and to de-stress. If you plan, you will find previously lost time that will allow you to do leisure activities. Schulze likes planning time in the day and week for leisure activities, helping him decompress from his college workload.

Find a community

The key attribute for success in college is “having a foundation,” says Schulze.

Schulze considered dropping out of college during his sophomore semester. The reason that he did not quit was the foundation and structure around him. Having friends, family, peers and mentors helped Schulze get back to a good mindset.

Structure and support are important factors to having a successful college life. Carey says that without his foundation of primarily his fellow ROTC members, he would have dropped out of college.

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“I stayed because of ROTC and family advice” he said.

Find a group of friends that support you and stick with them. When you’re thinking about skipping an assignment or event, or even dropping out of college, lean on this group of people.

Without family, both Carey and Schulze would’ve dropped out of college. Carey and Schulze have found their community with ROTC, now it’s your time to find what community you want in college to succeed.

How to stay active in college

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What do other college students do?

Maggie Spear, a communications major, at East Carolina University, says she balances out her time by having a specific schedule for school. Maggie says she “is on a streak of being on the row machine for at least 15 days now.”

“Try and find something you enjoy in order to stay interested in staying active,” Spears states.

Jack Wills, a sophomore at East Carolina University, says “It is hard to work out around my schedule, but I am my only motivator. I live off campus, so I go straight to the gym after my classes.”

Having a schedule has helped him become structured in college.

“Without a structured schedule, I don’t know how I would become active,” Wills said. “I need a schedule that helps me become more active.”