Inspire, Spring 2012

It started when I was 8 years old — yelling a war cry as I attacked my best friend’s rival teepee, while he resisted my attacks with his own war cries and a barrage of acorns. Ever since I can remember, I was fascinated by soldiers. It may be because my dad was in the Army JAG Corps. John Wayne was my hero, and I dreamed of being a Green Beret. All along God was steering my life toward serving in the military. The Army has trained me to be a leader, and attending Cedarville has helped to develop my critical thinking with a Christian mindset. As an officer, I will always have people watching and emulating my behavior, which gives me the invaluable opportunity to live what I believe. Getting Started Throughout high school, I wondered what I would major in when I went to college and where I would go. My favorite high school teacher, Bruce Chester, emphatically taught his students to think critically with a Christian mindset. I remember the quote from Socrates, “The only thing I know is that I know nothing.” Without Christ in the equation, we cannot know anything for sure. Growing up in a culture of complacency and postmodern ideas, I chose Cedarville because I wanted to further develop my critical thinking skills with a biblical worldview. I’m fascinated by anatomy and physiology, and I eventually hope to become a nurse anesthetist. Cedarville’s nursing program had excellent ratings and thus, with my ROTC scholarship in hand, I headed off to college. My first home on campus was an overflow room in Brock Hall. Freshman year, my Army physical training, or PT, was about 15 minutes away at Central State University. The first day of school in August 2008, my alarm rudely blared at 5:15 a.m., waking my five roommates. Quickly silencing the alarm, while muttering an apology to my new friends, I rushed out the door. PT was exhausting — an intense mix of cardio with exercises ranging from diamond pushups to suicides on the gym floor. Many mornings we would do PT outside where we did pushups and sit-ups in the snow. Hitting the ground running when I got to college was an understatement for me. Learning Responsibility The first semester was challenging for me as I struggled to balance ROTC, classes, track and field, and a social life. Waking up at 5 a.m. three times a week was exhausting. Army ROTC students have an extra three credits a semester in military science courses, plus a two-hour lab on Wednesdays. This was difficult since I already had a full course load as a nursing major in addition to Cedarville’s Bible minor. Many mornings, I would fall asleep in class, drooling on my desk. By the second semester, I knew I needed to make some changes. I dropped track and field, got a tutor for my science classes, and started going to bed earlier — which meant no more late night runs to Xenia for Sonic burgers. While my social life may have suffered, my grades started to improve. My professors understood when I often ran late for classes because of Army events that ran over time. My academic advisor, Angelia Mickle, formerly in the Army Nurse Corps herself, encouraged me to persevere and gave me tips to manage my time. Many mornings I would have to go to class in my PT uniform without a shower to get there on Army Strong by Cedarville student Paul Purtell ’12 my cedarv i l le 16 SPRING 2012