On February 2, UC High’s Marine Corps JROTC (MCJROTC) competed in their first ever, out-of-district competition at Sweetwater High School, where the Unarmed Drill Team took first place.

   “Unarmed Exhibition is, without a doubt, an unconventional aspect of JROTC competitions. It isn’t the standard marching or rifle-bearing but is instead composed of a series of beats and marches that teams must come up with on their own,” said Sophomore Patricia Sourinphomy.

   “…many of our movements and habits are carried from routine to routine, and it  is ultimately a matter of perfecting them in practice. Our Operations Officer, Cadet First Lieutenant Trinh, came up with most, if not all, of the routine. We carried over a lot of it from the Brigade competition that took place on January 26. From that time on, we continued to alter the routine,” said Sourinphoumy.

   “For Unarmed Exhibition, a lot of the points come from being in sync with the rest of the team. It makes the movements sharper, not to mention improves your alignment, and for that, we have to spend a lot of practices together in person,” said Sourinphomy.

   “Overall, I would say that we have spent as much time preparing for this competition as we have been enrolled in MCJROTC,” said Sourinphoumy.

   “It takes a lot of commitment for each individual cadet to make it to each practice. We try to practice everyday from the end of the school day to 3:15. There are a few practices on weekends or breaks and occasionally, there are extended practices that typically last until 4:00,” stated Sourinphoumy.

   “We practiced the routine for about three to four hours a day, every day for about two to three months, not to mention all of the practice we have all done at our own homes,” said Senior Rachel Bressler.

     “It was terrifying at first. We were told that we had a huge space to perform on and the routine needed to be six to eight minutes long; however, when we arrived, the drill pad was three times smaller than what we practiced on,” said Junior Natalia Trinh.

   “It was pretty intimidating. Going there with teams that we didn’t know much about was concerning… There’s also the fear right before and throughout the routine, that you’re going to mess up. Your heart is beating incredibly fast and you’re just completely tense, but it’s amazing all in all,” said Bressler.

   “Also, not knowing which judge we’d get — army or marine — had all of us super worried. The judges told us about our routine, how much they liked it, their critiques, suggestions, and what they enjoyed,” said Bressler.

   “Finally getting actual confirmation about how good the routine was was a really satisfying ending,” said Bressler.