My name is Matthew Ruiz.

Graduated in 2010 degree in liberal studies.

So I am a medical service corps officer, or and or 70 Hotel, which is a medical plans officer.

As most college students, they're trying to figure out what they want to do in life.

For me, I received a four year scholarship for your ROTC scholarship.

So I pretty much had my trajectory set at that point, everyone asked me, What degree did you get?

And I'm like, Yeah, Liberal Studies.

They're like, okay, a whole lot of nothing, yeah, but it's not it's you get a chance to understand availability of different skills that you get to experience during that program that Rowan offers allows you to understand who you are as a person.

That scholarship really did set me up in the United States Army Reserve.

I was initially placed as an aviator, so that's what I did.

That's how I got a lot of my aviation experience, and also medical service.

So again, very unrelated to the degree that I initially got, but became very interested in medicine and kind of how the army functions, using it.

What I noticed here a lot of professors had a knowledge and understanding and support of what a lot of ROTC students had to go through, because it is a big commitment to do both.

It really is like a full time job and a full time student deal.

Definitely, having a very busy schedule allows you to adapt to a lot of different things later on in life.

It's not just the subjects themselves with the skills that you learn about yourself and the subject that helps prepare you for the later job market.

For me, it was the military.

I think most folks are really they get honed in on on a singular end state.

I will be a doctor.

I will do this.

I think a lot of students forget what their what the true end state is.

If you're happy what you're doing, that's all that matters.

But sometimes you can't, you can't see it at the end state.

You have to adjust through the process.

I would say that the biggest thing getting the scholarship and doing the ROTC program here, it will set you up for success in your future Army career and civilian life.

If you do choose to go into the National Guard or the reserves.