Name: Christopher Gabayan
Age: 19
Year: Sophomore
Major: Biology
What programs are you involved in on-campus?
Army ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps), St. Johns’s ISSO (Indian Subcontinent Students Organization), We Are One 365, Red Storm Color Guard, ROTC Ranger Challenge Team, Intramural Sports, Phi Delta Theta Fraternity, SALUTE Honor Society, Sigma Alpha Pi: National Honor Society of Leadership and Success.
What motivates you everyday?
What motivates me everyday is the potential to influence other people’s lives. Everyday, we have the choice to live “intentional lives.” To me this means having a positive attitude and always looking for ways to improve myself, to ultimately help someone else or affect their life in a positive way. The one thing that always satisfies my soul is knowing that I was able to affect someone’s life, whether they were expecting it or not. Whether it be academics, relationships, personal growth, or an everyday issue, I know I have the ability to help others and make an impact on them.
Tell us about your experience with the ROTC program.
ROTC stand for “Reserve Officer Training Corps” What many people don’t know, is that it’s a lot more than just waking up at 5am for a workout. Everyone in the program has the ultimate goal of becoming an officer in the military. ROTC is all about learning and training to lead our nation’s soldiers. Our battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Miller tells us that this job is not for everyone, because once you contract into the program, nothing is just about “yourself” anymore. Every Wednesday, we have Military Science class which consists of learning Army organization, developing leadership skills, and becoming more equipped to lead soldiers. This then moves onto Military Science lab in which we take our skills to the field in which we practice our duties as an officer. We practice squad tactics such as reconnaissance and ambushes. We learn to survive out in the field with practical skills. We practice going through our chain of command and how to lead and influence our future soldiers. All things necessary and integral to our end goal. I could not see myself going through college without ROTC. The skills that I have gained and the lessons I have learned are invaluable and will carry through the rest of my life. I’m not even halfway through and I have already experienced so much. From this point and here on out, it is going to get harder, more stressful and more time consuming. But this only sets me and my fellow cadets up for even greater and honorable success that few ever reach.
What is a typical day in your life like?
Wake up at 5am to report to PT (physical training) at 6:00. PT from 6-7, eat breakfast really fast, change out of my PT clothes, and just make it to 7:30 class. Have 2-3 more classes after that and then grab lunch, do homework, and prepare for a meeting at 1:50pm. Once that’s over, I attempt to do more homework or study and then go to 3:25p, usually some kind of biology or chemistry class, then get out at 5:00pm. From here, I then go to the gym for an hour and then catch dinner. Sometimes I may need to film a project with a friend or shoot photos for my photography class as well. I end up coming back to my room at 8 or 9pm and from there I shower and begin to do my homework and study for exams. If I work efficiently, or if I don’t have too much homework, I’m able to fall asleep around 11pm. If not I tiredly work though till 12-2am. I put myself to rest, and do it all over again.
What are your plans once you graduate?
Along with graduation in 2018, I will also be commissioning into the US Army as a 2nd Lieutenant. Within 6 months after that, I will attend the Army’s “Basic Officer Leaders Course” (BOLC) for two months to develop myself as an Army officer even further. After finishing BOLC I plan to attend the “Interservice Physician Assistant Program” (Military Physician Assistant School) at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio Texas. This will be 2 more years furthering my education to earn my master’s degree and become a licensed Physician Assistant. After completing this I will begin my active duty service to the US Army. My service obligation will be 12 years at this point however I plan to serve a little longer than that. I plan to serve my country, not necessarily in a direct combat role, but as a medical officer with the skills and knowledge to help heal those wounded from war. After serving my time, I will continue to work as a physician assistant and plan to specialize in orthopedics, working with broken and fractured bones.
If you could describe yourself in one word, it would be?
Versatile
What is your experience with Greek Life like?
We colonized here at SJU only in the Spring of 2015. And from then, it has been nothing but a learning experience. We are all in the process of learning how to build “something” from the ground up. And of course, it has not been easy, quite the opposite. But with the support and effort of all the brothers, its very fun and very developing for all of us. One of the best things about greek life is meeting people you normally wouldn’t conversate with. We all come from different demographic backgrounds, different academic majors, and all have different reasons for joining our organizations. Through these different backgrounds, we can learn so much from each other and develop ourselves even more. Everyone has a story, everyone has a passion, everyone wants to do something with this world, and I think its amazing how we can all come together and call each other brothers and sisters.
If you could change one thing about your experience here, what would it be?
There isn’t anything specific that I would change about my experience. If anything, I wish I had more time in a day to do more of what I love to do! My ROTC and school obligations takes priority, and sometimes I wish I had more space for my art. I always wanted to perform with the Chappell Players theatre group or become an Resident Assistant or become a member of Student Government, but I simply have no space in my schedule and I know my limits. Despite this, I love every single moment of all that I do here. Yes, I do overfill my schedule, yes I do overwork myself, yes it is all very tiring (no I do not drink coffee to keep myself awake) but why waste my time while I’m here? There are so many things to do and so many people to meet and build relationships with. So I’m going to keep getting out there, and keep doing the things that I love to do.