This week’s Greek of the Week is Raven Able. She is a Junior, Journalism major, dual minor in Military Leadership and Pre-Law from Columbia, South Carolina. Raven is a committed cadet in the ROTC program here at Hampton as well as a member of The Gamma Iota Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. Keep reading if you want to know more about her!
HC: What influenced your decision to be a member of the ROTC program?
RA: I did ROTC in High School, I did it for four years, but prior to that I always knew I wanted to be in the army just because I genuinely wanted to serve my country. I wanted to carry out ROTC when I got to college.
HC: Does being in ROTC ever interfere with your responsibilities with your sorority?
RA: I wouldn’t say interfere…yea I will! But yes, sometimes it does. We wake up super early, sometimes we go to sleep super late, but I’ve learned and I’m still learning how to prioritize and balance the work of ROTC and the work of Delta.
HC: If you could do it all over again, would you be apart of both?
RA: Absolutely, no question about it. I believe that I’m going to benefit from being apart of both of these organizations. I think being apart of the Army is one of the greatest experiences that any person could experience. I mean literally, you’re serving your country – what’s better than that? And then also being apart of Delta, service is near and dear to my heart, bonds are near and dear to my heart, so experiencing what I would believe to be the greatest sorority on the planet…who wouldn’t want to be apart of that?!
HC: What is your favorite memory with your sorority?
RA: My favorite memory with my sisters would have to be a bonding night we had at one of my line sister’s houses about a month and a half ago. Only because it was so refreshing to see some of our graduated line sisters who were able to come back that particular weekend because we don’t always get to see them. It was a really chill night. We had snacks, a fishbowl of questions and scenarios. It was just so much fun to be around each other and soak up each other’s “Deltaness” and love.
HC: What makes you different than any other student in the ROTC program?
RA: That’s different! I’ll say this, on behalf of the Army ROTC program, there is a mixture of male and female students (or cadets as we are called) being apart of the program and as of right now I am the only female that is apart of a sorority in my particular class set. Being a junior, we’re known as MS3 (military science 3) students and I am the only female in that class, which is male dominant of course, but being the only female in that class I think that’s what really sets me apart.
HC: Can you tell us about your experience this summer at boot camp?
RA: This summer I had the opportunity to attend Cadet Initial Entry Training (CIET) or CIETnam as we like to call it, basic camp at Fort Knox, Kentucky. So I was there for a month and the challenges I faced….wow! One I had to kind of reel back in my motivation for ROTC because I lost it for a second. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Army and even if I wasn’t going the route that I was going I would definitely still try to do some sort of work with the Army. But I really thought for a second that this wasn’t for me. I was like oh my goodness, this is all I’ve ever known, literally when I tell you that’s all I did in high school and all I’ve been doing in my past couple of years in college, so it’s like wow this is all I know. I experienced some true challenges. I injured my foot and had to get an MRI done, so that was one of the main challenges that I faced, but I still pressed on and finished strong. But I definitely found myself, I found another part of me at camp. I found my calling in the Army at camp. And I’m really really excited to get things started. You know a lot of people think automatically you’re going to go to war and you’re going to go fight, but there are so many things that you can do in the Army and I learned that through camp. We had a branch brief which is pretty a branch, job for officers, which is what I’m doing-trying to become an officer. And I learned a lot about the particular branch that I want to join. And I’m just really excited to get started on my process!
HC: What motivates you to still want to be apart of the Army despite the person we have in office as our president right now?
RA: As a cadet in the Army ROTC program and a future officer of the United States Army, I am not obligated to speak on my Commander in Chief. However, what motivates me to stay in this wonderful organization are my battles, my classmates (the same level as me, above me, and below me). I have a special relationship with nearly everybody in the program and they motivate me every day to wake up at 5:30 to get to PT at 6 am. And the thought of me being able to lead a platoon of people someday, or maybe even a company, or higher than that- that’s what motivates me. Esprit De Corps (a feeling of pride, fellowship, and common loyalty shared by members of a particular group) as we like to call it
HC: I heard your birthday is on Founder’s day. How are you planning to celebrate?
RA: Omg! Wow, yes well it’s my first founders day and my 21st birthday, so I’ll definitely be turning up but the plans aren’t completely solidified.
If you have any interest in the ROTC program at Hampton University, you can visit http://libarts.hamptonu.edu/mil_sci/ more information. Also, keep up with the amazing things Raven is doing on her Instagram @xdoraemi and her Twitter at @_DoRaeMi.