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Wednesday, November 12, 2014 > paas 12
ROTC heroes in our shadows
Courtney Campbell
Senior Reporter
It’s 4:50 a.m. The sun isn’t even up yet,
the birds aren’t chirping and Elon University
sophomore Austin Hughes’ alarm begins to
buzz. Rolling out of bed, he puts on his cam
ouflage uniform and heads to North Caroli
na A&T State University in Greensboro for
physical training at 5:50 a.m.
Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday
he participates in a variety of physical activi
ties, from running four miles to pushups and
burpees, switching up exercises to keep all
parts of his body trained. Training ends at 7
a.m., and he returns to Elon’s campus, avoid
ing traffic if he’s lucky.
Hughes is part of Elon’s Reserve Officer’s
Training Corps (ROTC) program, which
trains future commissioned officers of the
United States Armed Forces. After Elon, he
will serve eight years as an officer in the US.
Army.
“Both my parents served [in the US
Army], and both had great careers, so they
encouraged it,” Hughes said. “Originally,
I wanted to enlist right after high school,
but they told me that if I wanted to serve I
should be an officer.”
Currently, Hughes is contracted with a
four-year scholarship from the Army. To
keep this scholarship, he needs to graduate
on time, maintain a 3.0 GPA and sign with
the Army for eight years.
“I always knew I wanted to do it, but the
scholarship made it the easiest decision ever,”
Hughes said.
Hughes is a triple-major in flnance, ac
counting and management. In addition to
raking four classes to fulfill these degree
requirements, he is also required by his pro
gram to take a classroom session Tuesdays
from 3:20 to 5:10 p.m.,as well as a leadership
lab Thursdays from 3 to 6 p.m.
To attend these labs, he drives back out
to Greensboro, where he will crawl on the
ground, weapon in hand, walk through an
ambush, or strategize how to cross a riv
er with a one-rope bridge. Often times, he
wont return until 7 p.m., where he has more
work to do.
“We have physical training tests once a
month,” Hughes said. “Instead of having
homework for these classes, I need to go to
the gym every day.”
These additional classes can make sched
uling difficult, especially because students
in the ROTC program do not have priority
scheduling. This semester, Hughes is taking
all of his classes on Mondays, Wednesdays
and Fridays to make this schedule work.
Hughes said the hardest part of the pro
gram is balancing it with, a college life, espe
cially when his day starts much earlier than
the average college student’s.
“The college kids’ dream is to have all
classes starting after 12,” Hughes said. “I
can’t do that. On a Friday morning, I can be
waking up when my roommates are going to
sleep.”
There is a clear distinction between the
professional appearance he upholds with his
ROTC instructors, using “sir” and “ma’am,”
compared to goofing around with friends,
but he has found a balance. Recently, Hughes
pledged with the Sigma Phi Epsilon frater
nity to add more fun to his life.
Hughes said that although he needs to
learn information about the fraternity like
another class, the brothers are really under
standing about his ROTC conflicts.
“Having a group of people that under
stand what you are trying to do and sup
port you is really nice,” Hughes said. “With
ROTC, I can’t join a lot of clubs. It’s nice to
go to a place for fun where I don’t have to call
you ‘sir’ or ‘sergeant.”’
Even though this balance can still be dif
ficult, Hughes said the program’s benefits
outweigh the challenges.
“They teach you things you will not learn
in the classroom,” Hughes said. “I have
learned leadership skills, time management
skills, communication skills and discipline
that wdll carry over to any job you apply for.”
Hughes’ suitemates have also learned
from his ROTC lifestyle.
“Living with an ROTC student, I have
been given a first hand look at just how ded
icated the students are and it truly inspires
me to live up to that standard of excellence
in all aspects of my life,” said sophomore Jar
ed Melanson.
Unlike most Elon students, Hughes
needs to think about a twelve-year plan,
rather than a four-year plan, considering the
time he will spend in the army.
Although he will not find out where he
will be stationed and what branch he will
be in until mid-November, he would ideally
like to go into the infantry. Hughes would
A walking miracle dancing for awareness
Catie Willett
Senior Reporter
Amy Wolf had fluid in her lungs. She had
fluid surrounding her heart. And her lymph
nodes were enlarged and full of cancerous
cells. Tlie Elon University sophomore was
only 16 years old in October 2011 when she
was diagnosed with Peripheral T-cell Lym
phoma.
Growing up, Wolf experienced the toll
cancer takes on patients after seeing family
members suffer from prostate, bladder and
breast cancer.
“You never expect [cancer],” Wolf said.
“Tliat’s what makes it so scary.”
Her own illness was discovered after
summer camp her junior year of high school
when she spent most of her time in the infir
mary with a fever and unexplainable fatigue.
After that summer, weekly visits to the
pediatrician became a part of her routine. As
she stopped eating, pediatricians attributed
Wolf’s symptoms to pneumonia or mononu
cleosis, two diseases with similar symptoms.
But after receiving a PET scan, fluid was dis
covered in her lungs and around her heart.
“When I was in the ER and they were
trying to explain what they found, my mom
started crying and yelled at the doctor saying,
‘You better not say the “C-word.”’Wolf said.
“But when my mom said that, it clicked that
that was why the antibiotics weren’t work-
“Not being in control was the scariest part
of being sick,” Wolf said. “My cancer was rare
in pediatrics, so I was like a test bunny for the
treatment regimen I was on.”
Wolf was prescribed two bone marrow
transplants, invoMng her own stem cells
for her first transplant, and then a smaller
dose of someone else’s stem cells for the next
transplant.
For her body to accept the cells, her im
mune system was wiped with high doses
of chemotherapy to avoid any attacks on
the foreign cells. The
second bone marrow
transplant was a pre
cautionary measure to
prevent the cancer’s re
turn. In addition to the
two transplants. Wolf
underwent endosco
pies, line placements,
bone marrow checks,
radiation and a spinal
tap.
Wolf continued her
in human service studies. She now plans to
pursue a profession as a child life specialist
— a career centered on helping sick children
develop coping skills through play.
“I have been very focused on becoming
a child life specialist because I want to help
children who were in the same position I
was,” Wolf said.
And now she can. In May 2012, Wolf was
declared cancer-free.
Wolf recovered at home for a year after
the declaration, attending Durham Tech
nical Community
"I HAVE SPOKEN . . .
BECAUSE I WANT TO
REMIND PEOPLE ABOUT
THE SUCCESS STORIES."
AMY WOLF
SOPHOMORE
mg.
Wolf was admitted to the Children’s Hos
pital at Duke University Medical Center that
fall to treat the cancer in her lymph nodes
with three-hour infusions of chemotherapy.
high school education through a hospital
teacher who worked with her on assign
ments. As she remained in the hospital for
another year, she was assigned a homebound
teacher her senior year of high school.
“I was very set on going to Elon since my
freshman year of high school, so I was deter
mined to still attend [school] and graduate
with my class,” she said.
Although her initial plan was to study
business at Elon, after spending time with
other cancer patients and having support
from the Duke staff. Wolf decided to major
College for her first
year of college.
“Every day I’m
scared of it return
ing. I never want to
relive that time in
my life,” she said.
“I met some amaz
ing people who
I would not have
met otherwise, but
I would never want
to be in such a vulnerable place in my life
again.”
Almost three years later. Wolf has ded
icated her time to working with Elonthon,
the 24-hour dance marathon organization
that works to help raise money for Duke
Children’s Hospital.
Her role for Elonthon is the role of a
Miracle Child, a speaker at Dance Mara
thons who is a cancer survivor.
“I have heard her speak at Elonthon in
the past and always found her story to be
inspiring,” senior and Elonthon Families
Relation Chair Tessa Kroninger said. “The
manner in which she teUs her story also is a
testament to her positive outlook on life and
bubbly personality.”
Apart from Elonthon, Wolf hopes to
reform the way cancer is viewed on Elon’s
campus.
“Death isn’t the first thing you should
think about when you hear ‘tumor.’ ‘What
can I do to help make their experience bet
ter?’ is what it should be,” Wolf said. “Dance
marathon is a way for people to celebrate any
story and is a way to get people involved be
cause there are really sick kids.”
Elonthon held its first fundraising event
of the year Saturday -with an open mic night
at The Oak House. The event began official
fundraising for Duke Children’s Hospital.
Performances firom the a capella group Shir
ley Tempos, solo musical acts and stories told
by Elon Miracle Child began the night. Wolf
concluded the event with a final speech about
how dance marathons benefit children’s hos
pitals and her ovm experiences.
“It’s effortless to talk at these events be
cause it’s my life. I don’t have to memorize
facts or look from a script,” she said. “But I
don’t want to get too specific about some of
the heavier things because Dance Marathons
are all about helping the kids that are sicker
than me now. I was in that position once be
fore. I never want to go back.”
Wolf has drawn strength from her fear.
“It amazes me how far I have come fiom
being so sick to feeling so good,” Wolf said.
“There have been some bumps in the road,
emotionally and physically, but I am stron^t
because of it, and I want to share my story.
ANNA ZWINGUEBERG I STAFF PHOTOGRAPHE
In addition to being a tripie-major, sophomore Austin Hughes is a part of Elon’s ROTC program.
lead a platoon of about 40 men, carrying out
the orders of a plan on the field. If he says go
left, his squad will all go left, no questions
asked. However, with a degree in finance
and accounting, they might want him to
have a desk job in a financial department
of the army. Hughes may end up working
in finance while in the army because of the
amount of money and energy devoted to
him through ROTC.
“If they are investing S200,000 dollars on
you, they don’t want you getting blown up,”
Hughes said.
No matter where he ends up, the ROTC
program has given Hughes leadership skills
he can apply to any situation.
“You really develop your character,”
Hughes said. “I now have self discipline.
When your alarm goes off at 4:55 in the
morning, you’re the only one who can get
yourself up, and you do.”