After placing second in their second field meet of the year, JROTC qualified for the Area 11 Championship at Santa Ana High School, Feb. 10. Despite not having as many cadets compared to the other schools, Westview’s JROTC placed seventh overall.
During the championship, schools competed against each other in eight different events including Armed Exhibition, Unarmed Exhibition, Armed Basic, Unarmed Basic, Color Guard, Academics, Physical Training, and Personnel Inspection.
Since August, Westview’s Unarmed Exhibition team has been perfecting their nine-minute routine twice a week after school.
In order to memorize the routine, the team learned each step gradually until they could perform the whole thing. They began by practicing beats and keeping themselves in sync with each other and slowly built up the routine. Cadet Julia Cheon (10) said that although the learning process of the routine was hard, dedicating so much time and effort to put it together made performing for the championship even more meaningful.
“[The hardest part] was memorizing the beats and remembering where to go because it’s hard to multitask,” Cheon said. “It’s not repetitive, so it’s difficult because there are beats that you have to memorize, but you also have to memorize where to go and how many steps you’re taking. It’s a long process, but I think it’s worth it and it makes the field meets memorable.”
In addition to the time spent practicing for the competition, Cheon said that the team’s dynamic has also helped them improve their morale and keep them in sync.
“We help each other where we’re lacking and we praise each other on what we’re good at,” she said. “It helps us stay motivated and it just helps the unit’s morale go up as a whole.”
Cadet Zoey Espiritu (10) said that working together for so long with the members of her team has made practices more enjoyable.
“Getting to know everyone and being able to work together because we are so comfortable with each other is really helpful,” she said.
In the championships, the Unarmed Exhibition team showcased their skills in front of Marine drill instructors, who scored them based on their overall impression, poise, and unity as a group. Before the competition, Espiritu was nervous but said she knew that her team was well prepared because of all the hard work they put into practicing together.
“I was really anxious going into the performance, but as soon as we started, I knew what I was doing,” Espiritu said. “I knew that there was nothing else we could do at that moment and we just had to call upon all our long hours [of practice] and I didn’t have to be scared.”
“I was very proud of ourselves because we worked hard for it,” Espiritu said. “It’s what we’ve been striving for this whole time and it was just a nice way to end off the season.”