This past weekend, I accompanied my good friend (and Campus Cutie) Kathryn Susko to the ROTC Navy/Marine Corps Birthday Ball. Some of you might notice—and admire—fellow Fordham students in their spiffy Service Dress Blues (SDBs in Navy lingo) walking around campus on Wednesdays. These students participate in NROTC, a program that trains them to be officers in the Navy or Marine Corps upon graduation. I had a great time hanging out with the Fordham NROTC students at the ball which was held at Villa Barone Manor in the Bronx. Happy birthday to the Navy and Marine Corps!
Before we left, Midshipman Susko and I made sure to get a few ~classy~ pics in front of the O’Hare 4th floor elevators.
The hotel ballroom was beautiful! I couldn’t take pictures during the beginning very fancy/official ceremonies, such as the color guard, but they took place in the middle of the dance floor. (Side note: that dance floor was put to good use later in the night when the DJ kicked off the dancing portion with “Timber” by Ke$ha. #GodBlessTheUSA)
This program will most definitely be in a scrapbook I show my kids one day. Not pictured are the multiple forks and knives at each table setting…I suddenly regret not taking cotillion lessons or something where they tell you which fork is for salad. Oh, well.
Another souvenir that is now proudly sitting on my desk in my dorm. I can’t wait to drink hot chocolate out of it (patriotically).
The display right next to our table of the American flag, the U.S. Navy flag, and the U.S. Marine Corps flag. Fun fact: the Marines do something called “barking” (think “Hoorah!” not “Woof”) where they make short, gutteral noises when they see a fellow Marine. As you might imagine there were many Marines present so there was A LOT of barking. It took some getting used to!
I end this snapshot with one of my favorite pictures of the night and a thank you to one of my favorite midshipmen (sailors) for taking me to the ball. It was a night of great food, laughs, dance-offs, and most importantly, celebrating some of our country’s most treasured people: the armed forces.