Photos by Cydney McFarland and Evie Carpenter
“You sure you’re up for it?”
Marine Midshipman Pascal Traylor, an exercise and wellness freshman, told me I’d have to be up and ready to leave Taylor Place by 4:45 a.m. if I wanted to tag along with him to his training.
I said yes.
It was still mostly dark when we set out for Tempe together. For most students, the day was far from beginning. The sun had not yet risen and only a bright moonlight lit up the sky.
We caught the light rail at 5 a.m. for the 40-minute trip to Tempe. Because it’s so early, the intercampus shuttle is not an option for Traylor to get to physical training on time. The first buses won’t take off from the Downtown campus for another hour and a half.
Traylor doesn’t look like a typical college freshman. He towers over most, standing six feet tall. One look gives away his dedication to a regular work out routine.
But what really makes this student from the Bay Area unique is his involvement in the Reserve Office Training Corps, the commitment that is forcing his early start to the day. This elective curriculum is taken along with required college courses to instill fundamental leadership skills and tools for life.
During our light-rail ride Traylor talked with other Downtown ROTC students about schedules and officers until another passenger suddenly chimed in. He said he’s an ex-marine and displays the corps motto, “Semper Fi,” tattooed across his collarbone.
“We’re surrounded by veterans,” Traylor said.
The conversation shifted to why Traylor and the others chose to join the ROTC. The program is “instilling discipline and determination, and it’s just a really honorable thing,” said Traylor, who has no family history in the military.
Traylor said he commits about 20 hours a week to the program. Outside of that, his life revolves around school, sleep and food.
Cadet Braydon Boswell gave Traylor a knowing nod of agreement.
“Any time I have I will sleep,” said Boswell, a health and science freshman enrolled in the Air Force ROTC.
Being an ROTC student while living on the Downtown campus is a struggle, Boswell admitted, but one well worth the sacrifice.
“(ROTC) keeps me more focused,” Boswell said. It is something she needs a lot of to keep up with her rigorous schedule.
Boswell said she was scared at first about joining the program. She gave it a second look and decided she wanted to join because of the benefits she expected from the experience.
Traylor said that the ROTC jump-started his life and gave him more direction. After graduation he will be commissioned as an officer in the military and is required to serve a minimum of five years.
“I might not be getting the college experience but (other students are) not getting the military experience,” Traylor said.
The early morning sunrise was still buried beneath the horizon as Traylor jogged to the Student Recreation Center to get to training on time. The Tempe campus felt like a ghost town as the commanding officers broke the students into their squadrons — Air Force, Navy, and Marine Option.
This is the norm most days, Traylor said, except for the occasional “reward” day when all the squads come together for game day.
Whether in Air Force or Navy, everyone gets the competitive juices flowing with games of football, soccer, and Ultimate Frisbee.
But on this day, Gunnery Sgt. Daniel Martinez and Marine Maj. Chris Velasco are leading the Marine Option squad, starting the group on their 10-minute warm-up run.
“Marines always train harder, that’s just how it is,” Martinez said while joking about the rivalry between the branches. “It’s a competition. They always push each other, which is good. We encourage a little competition.”
In the long run, however, the branches show a deep-felt respect for one another.
“We’re all in it together,” Traylor said.
The troop started their workout performing ten of each exercise, which included jumping jacks, lunges, and other intense exercises. Then, Martinez ordered them to run a half-mile in three and a half minutes.
After the first round, the routine was repeated. Twenty of each. Followed by 40 of each.
At first the group doesn’t show signs of fatigue, working through each exercise in unison as their counts echo through the crisp air. As the training wears on, sweat begins to bead on their foreheads. Breathing becomes heavier. Pain is visible on their faces.
Near the end, one marine breaks ranks to vomit. Everyone else continues, unwilling to yield.
“If they know it’s what they want, they’ll make it happen,” Martinez said.
The hardest moment comes with the final 40 push-ups. The group stops counting in unison. The only sounds echoing through the quad were grunts, yells and occasional shouts of encouragement.
Training ends as the first signs of life start to creep across Tempe campus. Birds are chirping, the sun is rising and maintenance has set out with leaf blowers and weed-whackers to ready the walkways.
Traylor starts off toward the light rail in a rush to make it back to the Downtown campus for his first class.
Meanwhile, back at Taylor Place, most students are just getting out of bed.
Contact the reporter at amanda.ames@asu.edu
