Meet Jared White, JROTC Member, Mandolin Player

At iSucceed Virtual High School, we have dedicated students who work hard to get their diplomas. That’s why we decided to start a Student Spotlight series, so we can shine the light on a few of our awesome students.

This month, we’re sharing the story of one student who’s preparing to serve his country. Check out his story below.

I started Marine Corps JROTC halfway through the school year of my freshman year, at the local high school in Kellogg, which at first put me at a disadvantage but I caught up quick. I got interested in JROTC because if you complete at least three years in the program and join the military, you will get promoted to an E3 instead of starting out as an E1. My motivation to stay in JROTC has changed and I have found many more advantages than I thought possible. Now, I help run the program and have been given more responsibility than most high schoolers could even know. It’s both intimidating and fun at the same time.

JROTC is a leadership class that has a military chain of command with cadets running the program for the most part, with cadet ranks, (i.e. cadet Corporal, cadet Major) of which I am a cadet First Sergeant. This makes me the Company First Sergeant. As such, I am one of three who are responsible for the running of the program next to the CO and XO. JROTC covers it all with academics, military drill, ( marching, Rifle and sword manual, color guards, 21 gun salute ) military history, ( ours is a Marine Corps JROTC so we get Marine history) and PT or physical training. As a Marine Corps JROTC, PT is harder than typical. The MCJROTC that I am in is at Kellogg high school.

I am currently in the process of enlisting in the Navy to become a part of Naval Special Warfare, which includes Navy SEALs, SWCCs, ( special warfare combatant craft ) EOD, ( explosive ordinance disposal) Navy Diver and Air rescue swimmer. I am training for Navy SEAL.

When I was about to start high school I was looking for an online school that the Navy accepted and I liked the idea of the quarter system. The fact that I could study just a few subjects at a time appealed to me rather than doing 6 or 7 classes at once.

I was fully homeschooled up until high school when we thought it would be easier to attend an accredited school because I wanted to join the Navy. After the first quarter of iSucceed I knew I never wanted to change schools.

When I first started iSucceed, it was a different type of schedule than I had ever had before, so it took some time to get use to. But it did not take as long as I thought it would. The amount of work that needs to be done in the shorter time frame was an adjustment.

iSucceed has helped me become more organized than I had been. It also allows me to have a more flexible schedule so I could work with my dad sometimes and go to the local high school to take JROTC and Olympic Weights.

Outside of the JROTC, I like to fish, hunt, run, play baseball, play the mandolin, and read military books of any kind.

As of right now I do not have plans to go to college. It takes about 2 ½ years to become a Navy SEAL with constant training, so doing college while in might be a bit to hard but after I am out I might use the GI bill for college if I need a degree for a job when I am out. The other possibility would be to do school after SEALs but stay in the Navy and become an officer.

“I cannot thank my teachers and the iSucceed staff enough for helping and teaching me through high school and always being helpful, understanding and patient with me through this learning curve of high school. I would have to specifically say that Kim Anderson, Ginny Carroll and Crystal Sistoni are the three that stand out the most. They helped me through planning, struggles and Math the most. Those three and my mom have been the biggest help to me. Between their working with me and communicating I wouldn’t have done as well. Honestly my mom is my most influential teacher overall. But all together they have helped me get to this point.” – Jared White, iSucceed student