“The discipline, the structure, the camaraderie, the sense of belonging were what I craved. I became a leader almost immediately. I found a selflessness within our ranks that reminded me of the caring atmosphere within my family. Race, color, background, income meant nothing. The PRs would go the limit for each other and for the group. If this was what soldiering was all about, then maybe I wanted to be a soldier.”
This quote is important because it demonstrates that ROTC (Reserve Officers Training Corps) brought a sense of unity to Powell that reminded him of home. As a reader one can identify that Powell’s motto is discipline, organization and caring which is what he was brought up with coming from immigrant family whose focus was on what career will lead you to a pension. Signifying that ROTC reminded him of home, making him for the first time not feel distinct but connected. To add on, having this connection made him secure which led to his eagerness of not only serving the country but obtaining his bachelor’s in geology from CCNY, a public school at the time charging $10 a year. Moreover, to demonstrate that economic class does not define brainpower, which is what Powell was able to exemplify during his transition in college.
Good,