I'm a shy upper level ROTC cadet. Help/?

Question

This is my second year in JROTC (Highschool). So that means im a upper level cadet. Which means me and some other people have to take charge of the new cadets thats in the program. Well in my class im the only male upper level cadet in their, and the rest is female upper level cadets, plus the new people there. My teacher always get on me by saying that I suppose to set the example, and all of that crap. And it's kinda hard for me since im the ONLY upper level cadet male in the class:( By me being a very shy person its hard for me to take charge, singing cadence to them, marching them to places and all of that.

How can I overcome this? I really don't like talking charge because people used to pick on my voice in the past.

Answer 1

I went through something similar when I was in the Army, although I had more than a year to get to where you are now.

In my case, I was a very shy, introverted guy. I think a lot of my problems stemmed from the fact that I did not have a lot of self confidence. I was also very unathletic in high school.

When I enlisted, I was 23 years old, and I did it because I knew my life was going nowhere and I needed a kick in the behind.

But the secret was that I deliberately went for something I knew would be very challenging for me. I chose to become an infantryman because it required a lot of skills where I was lacking. It was a very physical job (difficult for a guy who'd avoided any kind of physical work or training all his life) and it didn't lend itself to shrinking violets.

But I learned to apply myself and was amazed by the things I achieved. I'm scared of heights but I earned my jump wings and air assault badge. After a lot of hard work I maxed out my PT test. I earned my EIB.

All of that success, which came from a great deal of hard work and concentration really improved the way I saw myself. I taught myself that I can do anything I set my mind to, even if I'm not suited to it by nature.

Now this didn't happen overnight. But the really critical decision I made was to commit myself to excelling. I even remember the night in Basic Training.

I couldn't shoot worth a darn, and was ready to just give up and go home a failure. A couple good friends of mine talked me up and helped me out and got me over that first big hurdle. From then on I was on a new track--instead of giving up when I ran into problems, I'd find ways to get around them, and more often than not I succeeded, even when it looked impossible.

You have no idea what that can do for your self esteem.

So here's what you need to do.

1) Learn the skills you're going to be using inside and out. If you're marching a formation around, learn how to do it in your sleep. If you're singing cadence, go running on your own and sing to yourself (it'll help you push yourself harder too).

2) Forget about how your peers are treated. It may not be fair. So what? Life isn't fair. You need to learn how to work with the hand you're dealt.

3) Volunteer for the tough stuff. Treat any new skill as a learning opportunity. If you plan on joining the military, you'll want to take full advantage of every opportunity you are given to improve yourself.

4) Find some good support. Friends who you can go to when you're having trouble who will help get your mind back in the game. You want people who won't let you quit just because the job is hard, but will support you and help you do what you have to do in order to succeed.

5) Forget about what people used to say about your voice or whatever. If you know what you're capable of, what other people say about you won't mean squat. The more confident you are, the less others matter.

You've actually been given a great opportunity here, and this could be the year that you really figure out what kind of man you are going to be. If your teacher is giving you this chance to show what you're made of, it means that he thinks that you're capable of accomplishing the mission.

That's a GOOD thing!

Answer 2

Well if you ever plan on making it as an officer you better over come it or your troops won't respect you. Take charge! If you are not confident in yourself then that is a problem that you can not let others see if you want to make it, so overcome it, defeat it, move on. Otherwise when you are actually in a high stress situation you will fold and let your troops down. Display confidence, take control, who cares what other people think about your voice, if you display confidence and let others see it they will follow you!

Answer 3

Stop whining and get on with the job!

Go find a nice deserted area and practise projecting your voice in a Firm Military Manner.

Answer 4

Sign up for a speech class. It will help increase your self confidence.