“Congratulations to NSU’s Newest Army ROTC Scholarship 3-year awardee, Candyce Croom!”
Homwtown: Norfolk, VA
GPA:3.1
Hometown:Norfolk, VA
Major:Kinesiology
Classification:High School Senior
Career goal:To inspire and motivate others as a physical therapist to never give up and to be all they can be no matter the obstacles.
Motto:“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” Philippians 4:13
Congratulations to Candyce Croom, a freshman Kinesiology major, military science minor at Norfolk State University. We extend our heartfelt congratulations to her and her commitment to serve others through as a cadet in the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps. Read more about Candyce in her own words.
Allow me to introduce myself, I am Candyce Croom and I am currently a senior at Norview High School who earned a three-year Army ROTC Scholarship to Norfolk State University. As great as this sounds it wasn’t the easiest journey. As a high school freshman my mom wanted me to join our high school NJROTC program, but I had no interest in the military, so instead, I applied for the Norview High School Leadership Center of Science and Engineering Program (LCSE). I was selected to be in the LCSE program where I was introduced to rigorous honors and AP classes as a freshman.
Junior year I started to struggle academically and was released from the program. Dismissal from LCSE decimated my self-esteem and confidence and left me clueless about my future. My academic trials made me feel that I wasn’t ready for college and that college was not the path for me. But as a Christian who prayed every day to figure out her path for the future, God spoke through my mother and she told me “you’re going into the NJROTC program at your school and I’m not taking no for an answer”. I have to say joining NJROTC was the best decision I have ever made in my entire life.
Through Norview NJROTC I have rebuilt my self-esteem, enhanced my confidence, and developed into a strong leader. NJROTC was my second chance for a new beginning and I knew I had to take it and run with it. I wouldn’t be the cadet that I am today without the help of my Senior Naval Science Instructor Lieutenant Commander Stuart M. Littlejohn. Through him, I have learned the fundamentals of being a good leader, as well as pushing myself to be more than just a good cadet but a cadet to be remembered.
Because of this program I have accomplished a lot of great achievements like winning a 3 year Army ROTC Scholarship, earning membership to the National Honors Society, winning the American Society of Military Comptrollers Scholarship, being named Cadet of the Month, and being one of less than 20 cadets out of 400 students to be spot promoted at our Area Manager’s Inspection. If I were to go back to the moment when I dismissed from LCSE I would have never thought I could have accomplished so many things in just a year, while also discovering a way to go to college without any debt.
After high school I will be majoring in kinesiotherapy at Norfolk State University and ultimately commission as an officer in the U.S. Army. To make sure I never go back to that dark place again, I go by the motto “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” Philippians 4:13.
