While many students routinely take a dip in the new Marywood pool for exercise or leisure, others have utilized the new aquatic center for hard-core training. Michael Stauffer, junior architecture major, has been training at Marywood since his freshman year and recently completed his ROTC combat diving certification.

ROTC stands for Army or Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps and according to the Marywood website, provides “leadership training, worldwide travel opportunities, and a career path to commissioning as a military officer.”

Stauffer is also an active member of the swim team and has been training for this certification for a long time. “I would train for about five hours a day swimming miles in the pool, doing breath-holding exercises, knot tying, running two to ten miles a day and lifting.”

Stauffer spent seven weeks in Key West, Florida, where he attended the U.S. Army’s Combat Diver Qualification Course. Stauffer said that being an architecture major came in handy when they had long nights with no sleep because his body was already used to being sleep deprived.

After so much training, Stauffer was relieved to finally be certified. “Receiving it on the last day after several weeks of intense training was a huge weight off my shoulders. It was a big goal in that the school I went to. They only take the best from the military and I got a chance, as a cadet. Not many people get to, throughout their whole military career,” he said.

Lieutenant Remley is in charge of the ROTC here at Marywood and works with the cadets as they train. “For me, as the professor of Military Science, I take a great deal of pride in seeing our cadets go off each summer and achieve success at the various training sites.  It is an opportunity for these cadets to improve themselves both personally and professionally.”

Stauffer had some advice for other young men working to achieve this goal. “Don’t quit on yourself. You can accomplish more than you think you can.”