The ballroom at Camp Pendleton bustled with activity as Mikhaela Nuguid (10), Siddhi Bhavsar (10), and the rest of The Ball Committee worked to set up the room for the annual NJROTC Ball, May 9. They moved tables into the center of the floor, set up speakers, and decorated the walls with balloons that followed this year’s theme of Night Underneath the Lantern, a combination of the movie Tangled and the painting “The Starry Night.”
Each year, NJROTC holds this ceremony to commend the unit’s accomplishments as they celebrate the end of the year.
Nuguid, an NJROTC Morale Officer, covers planning events and was in charge of setting up the ball. She chose certain members to make up the Ball Committee, who chose the theme, location, decorations, and schedule of the ball as well as discussing with the Captain nominations for Ball Court.
“I love being the Morale Officer because I’m an outgoing and fun person who enjoys planning events that bring our unit together,” Nuguid said.
At the start of the ball, students were first greeted by current seniors with a hand shake, a tradition in which the NJROTC honors their seniors. Then, after the National Anthem, the Captain delivers a speech to the Chief of Operations. After that was a cake-cutting ceremony.
“For the cake ceremony we pick the oldest cadet in the unit and the youngest,” Nuguid said. “They have the first slice and the first bite of the cake, which is really fun.”
After the dessert ceremony comes the Royal Dance Court, which is the main event for the night. During this dance, each nominated NJROTC student has the opportunity to dance for the rest of the unit.
“It’s one male and one female from the freshmen, sophomore, junior, and senior classes,” Bhavsar said. “They dance on the court in front of all of us. We nominate people for Ball Court. [Then] we narrow down the entire unit to maximum four males and four females per year grouping. From that, we all do an anonymous vote [to finalize the court].”
After the vote, Nuguid makes note of the students with the highest number of votes and organizes the Royal Dance Court.
“I’m in charge of the votes,” Nuguid said. “I basically make a document, and I put all the nominees who were the top picks. I capture the top four people for each year. There’s also names for each year grouping and [the Sophomore] year grouping is called Duke and Dutchess. On the day of [the ROTC Ball], those people get called up from their seats, they’ll pair up with their partner and then they’ll do their formal dance.”
For Nuguid, the ball is one of her favorite parts about NJROTC, and is part of the reason she loves being a Morale Officer.
“To me, the ROTC Ball is a chance for everyone to relax and have fun together, like a Prom, but in a more formal setting,” she said. “It’s a way to celebrate and reward all the hard work we put in throughout the year with field meets, weekly inspections, and everything else we do in NJROTC. Being able to create fun experiences and boost everyone’s morale is one of my favorite parts of NJROTC.”
