Cassandra Lovitt has always set high goals for herself.
Walking in to the military science office last fall, she barely met the minimum physical requirements for the Reserve Officers' Training Corps. But by the end of the year, the junior political science major added nearly 100 points to her score.
To put it in context, only three other students — who attended a higher level of training this summer than she did — scored higher.
"Her goal is to be an Army JAG (Judge Advocate's General)," said Col. Steve Hibler, her professor of military science. "And I think she shows the ability to do that. Definitely has the leadership potential."
Lovitt says she wants to be in JAG so she can give back to the people who serve.
"The military does a lot for the United States," she said. "And you know, less than one percent of the population has actually served in the armed forces. So I think that's the best way I can help."
GROWING YOUNG LEADERS
Hibler said Lovitt was the only student from Ball State that went to Leadership Training Course this year.
LTC is an intense month-long session that lets cadets catch up on two years of training in the ROTC.
Lovitt transferred to Ball State her sophomore year and had no prior military experience, even though she grew up in a military family.
"What a great example about leadership," Hibler said. "We can show... a student here at Ball State — who brought a great GPA in the door (about 3.8), and now she's doing much more.
"She's getting up and doing her physical fitness. She's going down there, and she's competing with her peers, and she's excelled."
Of Ball State's 250 cadets (including 70 added during freshman orientation), less than 20 percent are females.
"Our crop here at Ball State is very impressive," Hibler said. "We're showing that consistency with the females coming in the door — no disrespect to the guys."
His second in command, Master Sgt. Mark Hamil, said he's impressed with any student who chooses to join ROTC post-9/11.
"It's unique that ... you'd have volunteers joining a program such as ROTC, knowing that there's about a 99 percent chance that they'll deploy to either Iraq or Afghanistan and fight the global war on terrorism," he said. "To me, that's pretty heroic when somebody just steps up and volunteers."
But sometimes there's people, like himself and Lovitt, who have always known they wanted to serve in the Army.
"I knew when I was in second grade," Hamil said. "My dad was a preacher, and I lived outside of Fort Knox, Ky., and I saw a soldier one day, and I said, ‘That's what I want to be.'"
"I never changed my mind. So here I am today, 22 years later."
ONE FOOT IN FRONT OF THE OTHER
Discipline and leadership are staples of the ROTC program. What's most important sometimes is just the act of putting one foot in front of the other.
Lovitt said that's what got her through the ropes course during the first week of training.
"OK, I just completed a step. There's like 20 more in front of me," she said she thought to herself.
"But I just kept thinking, ‘One more, one more, one more,' and then I finished it. It was great."
Another highlight was the day she had to act as platoon leader.
"It was exhausting," she said. "I've taken accountability so many times. It wasn't what I expected, but it was a good experience."
Cadets are graded on their physical fitness and leadership styles with possible scores ranging from an N for "needs improvement," S for "satisfactory" and E for "excellent." Lovitt said she's always shooting for an E.
"My last evaluation, I got an S overall, but I did get E's on parts of it," she said one day. "I guess my overall goal is just to get that E. That'll be nice."
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