You have seen her around.
She traverses the Pepperdine campus from class to class clad in polished black boots Woodland-pattern camouflaged trousers and a brown Army tee shirt. Her cadet rank and name tag lay embroidered on either side of her blouse a combination of slate gray desert sand and foliage green.
There is a subdued rectangular patch sewed into her left sleeve a half inch down from the shoulder seam and centered. Divided into four sections a lamp sits in the top right square and a helmet in the bottommost left. A single sword lies across the patch diagonally.
The word leadership spreads across the top of the patch and excellence follows beneath it. These are the words to which one Pepperdine student has devoted her life.
Meet Emily Frigo.
Frigo is a cadet in the Army’s Reserve Officer’s Training Corps (ROTC) at Pepperdine a program affiliated with UCLA. Over the course of four years her work will prepare her to be an officer in the U.S. Army.
The national scholarship for the program which awards full tuition book fees and a monthly stipend is quite competitive with a mandatory interview and physical fitness examination.
“My decision was made very quickly said Frigo, who learned of the opportunity in 2008 during her senior year at Portage (Indiana) Christian School.
Frigo grew up watching the Air Force’s annual air show with her family from their backyard and had wanted to be a pilot. Her sophomore year in high school, Frigo was even considering applying to the Air Force Academy before deciding she wanted to experience a normal college life.
After learning of the ROTC scholarship, Frigo looked into the Air Force’s ROTC program but discovered that she had already missed the deadline. The cutoff date for submission to the Army’s program was quickly approaching. With only one week to spare, Frigo began preparing her application.
I decided that I was going to see what (would) happen Emily said.
Her intuition was rewarded in March 1, 2009, when she learned she had won the scholarship and gained admission to Pepperdine not long after. With only 30 days to decide which school to attend, Emily and her father boarded a plane to the West Coast.
We visited four or five schools in California. My hope was that she wouldn’t pick any of them just because they were so far away admitted Emily’s father, Noel Frigo, from the comfort of his home nestled in the small town in Indiana.
Pepperdine was the second to last visit on their trip. Frigo, who had been praying about her decision, remembers an instant feeling of peace after arriving on campus.
OK. This is where God wants me to be she decided.
Emily’s experience as a Pepperdine Wave is balanced with the life of a soldier in boot camp. The ROTC program stretches the 10-week period of basic training that normal enlists would participate in over four years. The years of training are designed to build beyond the fundamentals in order to prepare the cadets to be commissioned as Second Lieutenants (first ranking of leadership above enlisted).
The biggest difference between basic training (boot camp) and ROTC is the lifestyle and way in which you are treated said Emily Frigo. At basic you sleep eat and breathe army and your only status is as a private.
“In ROTC you are treated like a future officer. You may still get reprimanded if you mess up but you also get to be a college student and whatever else you are involved in like athletics or student government.”
The ROTC curriculum supplements students’ academic majors by offering elective courses ranging from leadership and management to military law. Courses are augmented with leadership laboratories that stress practical skills such as first aid land navigation survival techniques rappelling and other military tactics.
Frigo is one of six Pepperdine students in the program. As the squad’s leader Frigo practices hands-on leadership. Her responsibilities include leading physical training informing and taking care of the other cadets freshmen Kim Gerling Sawyer Clark Jonathan Lancaster and sophomore Jeffrey Jarvi who led the squad last semester. Senior Darren Cinatl acts as a mentor to the younger cadets.
At 4:30 a.m. on Monday mornings Frigo wakes up. At 4:50 a.m. she and the Pepperdine squad depart for California State Northridge where most of their physical training and classes are held. From 6-7 a.m. they engage in rigorous exercise with the 40 other cadets at CSUN. They arrive back at Pepperdine around 8:15 a.m.
On Tuesdays the squad gets to complete physical training on the Pepperdine campus. “The activities vary said Frigo. Sometimes we swim. Sometimes we go to the track. We almost always do circuit training — push-ups sit-ups sprints or stairs.”
If it makes you feel any better about Wednesday morning Chapel Emily and her fellow cadets have to wake up at 4:30 a.m. to embark on the 45-minute ride to CSUN where they begin with an hour of physical training before attending class.
Military Science Emily’s current course teaches the basic principles of being an army officer and is no different than any other class. “We have quizzes notes a midterm and final said Emily. We get grades.”
The classes that supplement Frigo’s regular course load are led by CADRE trained personnel and noncommissioned officers. Technically the courses are UCLA classes held at CSUN and may be transferred to Pepperdine (although most cadets choose not to).
Thursdays are Emily’s day off. On Fridays she has lab. She and the squad depart for Chadswith Park near CSUN to apply the skills taught in their Military Science class. From 6-9 a.m. they practice land navigation and squad movement tactics which stress teamwork.
“They’ll give us a compass a protractor and say go find your points Emily elaborates.
Saturdays and Sundays carry no required obligation or training, but there are many optional volunteer opportunities, like distributing informational pamphlets to students at UCLA or participating in color guard.
Jarvi and Cinatl recently started a Military Service club at Pepperdine that completes service projects like sending Christmas cards to troops and participating in Pepperdine’s Relay for Life event.
Our lives are pretty busy in between ROTC and school Frigo said of her schedule. But I am also on the lacrosse team.”
“I love it gushed Frigo, who considers athletics her favorite pastime. I also love to hike.
“Growing up with three brothers I fought with sticks and played with [toy] guns.”
Emily’s father reminisced on her childhood.
“She’s always been competitive said Noel Frigo. Even from a very young age in everything she did from school to athletics. She’s very driven.
“It wasn’t enough to be on the girl’s hockey or baseball teams. She joined the boys’ team. Emily always wanted to compete at a high level.”
Frigo’s relationship with the Pepperdine squad is much like the relationship she shares with her three brothers. Despite her competitive drive she maintains a close relationship with her siblings and is quite protective of her two younger brothers.
“Emily cares for her cadets said Jarvi. She acts in a way like a mother to them.
“She frequently brings food like muffins and cookies and is willing to stand up for them whenever other cadets are being unfair.”
“It’s like a big frat Frigo said relationships between cadets on the Pepperdine Squad is like a big frat.
“We’re all brothers and sisters. We have each other’s back.”
Emily attributes the Pepperdine squad’s love and support for one another to their lengthy car rides in the morning which other cadets don’t have. The support from her family has also been crucial to her growth and success.
Her father admits it was not easy at first. “I wasn’t very pleased said Noel Frigo of his initial reaction to Emily’s decision. She’s my only daughter and the thought of her being in the milit
ary was very scary.
“I tried to talk her out of it and so did [her mother]. But she had her heart set on it.”
Despite none of her three brothers serving in the military Frigo’s family has come to admire her strong will. Pepperdine students faculty and staff also show their appreciation
“We are received very well said Frigo of her and fellow cadets’ acceptance on campus. People have come up to me and said thank you for you service.
“Prayer and my faith keep me going Frigo added of her endurance. My parents are amazing people really strong Christians.
“It is my life. I fit life into faith not faith into life Frigo proclaimed.
Frigo plans to receive her pilot’s license this summer, and is unsure where the army will take her. Cadets must complete a 30-day assessment the summer before their senior year to display their proficiency in the compulsory curricula before becoming Second Lieutenants.
Prior to completion of the ROTC program, students may request to go on active duty or serve part-time in the Army Reserves or National Guard. Upon successful completion of the assessment, cadets are commissioned from 16 specialty fields within the Army, including military intelligence, aviation, signal communications, finance, logistics, nursing and engineering.
Frigo’s goal is to be commissioned as a helicopter pilot into the aviation division, one of the most difficult positions to obtain.
You definitely have to be one of the top cadets in the program Frigo stated. Although cadets have the right to state their preferences, the Army makes the final decision and assigns their position based on gpa and overall performance throughout the course.
That’s definitely what I’m striving for and what I’m working towards said Frigo of her hope to be a helicopter pilot.
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t scared but I’d be ready said Frigo of the possibility of being assigned to battle in Afghanistan. I am in the army to serve my country and that’s what I am going to do regardless of where they put me.”