Senior Cristian Mazariegos is the commanding officer in JROTC, the vice president and secretary of Math Honor Society. He talks about how he benefits from being involved in JROTC and other organizations such as Math Honor Society.
What school activities are you involved in?
CM: As a senior, I’m involved in JROTC, National Honor Society, Math Honor Society and English Honor Society. But through high school, I was also involved in the Student Council.
When did you start getting involved in school activities?
CM: I began getting involved in school activities when I transferred over my sophomore year. At first I participated in JROTC for sophomore year. Junior year, I joined the Student Council class. Now that I’m a senior, I want to be able to do my part in the community and participate in student organizations like National Honor Society and Math Honor Society.
Is there any specific reason why you chose to be in those organizations ?
CM: I’m in most of the organizations because I want to make myself competitive for scholarships and colleges. Because they look at the leadership and community service aspect of the student. Apart from just that I really like serving people. Lending a hand, helping out whenever I can. I think that’s one of my biggest motivators ia just helping out and just getting myself prepared for college.
How do you benefit from being involved in these activities/clubs?
CM: I benefit from being involved in these organizations by being able to learn from others, being able to help others and just being able to improve and perfect my leadership skills. Because a lot of the student organizations are run by students with the teachers and sponsors just being there to supervise and just help out whenever they can. I think being involved in these activities really gives students the opportunity to improve their leadership skills. That way, if they decide they want to pursue other interests they can transfer whatever they’ve learned as a leader in those organizations into those other activities.
Does being involved in these school activities have any impact on your daily basis? Why?
My primary school activity or extracurricular activity is JROTC, It does have a daily impact on my life because I just believe in what it represents and what it teaches. The values that it instills, so in order, discipline, structure and that I live up to that .It affects me daily because I feel as if I have a standard to keep, to maintain an expectation to uphold, as a student, as a leader, and as a cadet. I feel like I have to be on top of myself in order to be a good representation of what the program is.
What responsibilities do you have in the clubs?
I mentioned before that I’m in JROTC. I’m the commanding officer, so what that means is that I basically represent the unit as a cadet as a student. Much like all the other cadets when they wear their uniform, if cadets need help with anything involving the program or maybe outside, like with school they can come to me and seek guidance. My main responsibilities is making sure that the unit is maintaining standards. Cadets wear the uniforms properly, they know their knowledge, they aren’t getting in trouble or anything. If anything I have a staff that I can rely on and it’s made of other student leaders. I’m also the vice president and secretary of Math Honor Society so for that, I just make sure that I can take into account the attendance, what goes down during the meetings, have to make sure that everyone’s well informed or if the President isn’t there I’ll just take over for her with the other activities that I’m involved in I don’t have any major responsibilities, but I’d like to think that I’m part of something bigger than just myself.
What’s the outcome you expect from being a part of these organizations?
The outcome is really just trying to help inspire others. Setting a good example. Trying to lead by example, hoping that others take up what I put down. And take advantage of the opportunities that I’ve been able to in order for them to build something great for themselves.
Would you recommend new high school students to get involved in any of these activities? Why?
Absolutely, yes. I would definitely recommend it for new high school students who have the chance to join any school activity, extracurricular or not. It just allows them to get a feel for what they have in store for themselves.
Was there any moment when you thought “this is all worth it”?
Yes, around this past summer I managed to earn a spot in the Naval Academy summer seminar. And for that I was first pick of what maybe 300 students.I just thought to myself what it took for me to get that spot. And luckily, I’ve been able to have that experience and I’m hoping to share that with others. So they can learn and see all the opportunities that are out there for them.
