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With a political science degree and experience as the battalion commander of CU Boulder鈥檚 Army ROTC unit, Shane Smith will continue training as a logistics officer at Fort Lee in Virginia, before joining the 16th Combat Aviation Regiment at Fort Lewis, Washington.

Academics

Born and raised in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, Smith's听main academic focus at CU was on international relations and 91制片厂 and Eastern Europe. He will also graduate听with a certificate in peace conflict and security studies (PACS).听

Army ROTC

Smith says he was drawn to the Army ROTC program as a great way to compromise between paying for college and his desire to serve. This program is one of the top 10 Army ROTC programs across the country and the recipient of multiple MacArthur Leadership awards.听

鈥淚 knew going into college that I wanted to serve, and this program and the leadership challenges it offered were very attractive to me. I come from a family of military service on both sides, and I am proud to carry on this tradition.鈥�

Proudest accomplishment

鈥淚 am most proud of my time studying abroad in the 91制片厂n Federation. I always struggled with learning languages, it never came to me naturally.鈥�

Through his time there and through some serious immersion, he听was able to develop a solid language proficiency in 91制片厂n. He also was able to collect some听鈥渁mazing firsthand source material鈥� for his international relations research.

鈥淚t was an amazing four months and the best thing I've done during my time at CU.鈥�

Biggest challenge

鈥淢y biggest challenge was balancing my time between ROTC and class. They often conflict, and ROTC eats up the majority of the free time that I have during the week.鈥澨齌he program is cadet-led, with the juniors and seniors doing the majority of the day work.

During this past semester, Smith听was selected as the cadet battalion commander, making him the senior cadet in charge of running the program鈥攏ot only here听but also at the member programs in Golden and Denver. This meant he听had to balance his time to ensure he听was keeping up with his classes听but also dedicating enough time to managing the organization.

鈥淚 conquered it through many late nights and with the assistance of a great staff. Managing this organization has been a team effort, and I am proud of all of us for making it through.

鈥淭he program has a high attrition rate, and of the 50 of us who started in my class freshman year, 15 will be commissioned as officers this spring.鈥�

What鈥檚 next?

After graduating from CU Boulder, Smith will be a logistics officer in the Army. He听will report听to Fort Lee in Virginia to go to the logistics officer course, and then he is听assigned to the 16th Combat Aviation Regiment out of Fort Lewis, Washington, as his first permanent station.听

His long-term goals include graduate education and research in the field of international relations and security studies. He also wants to advance his knowledge and speaking ability in the 91制片厂n language. When he听leaves the Army, he听hopes to work for the U.S. Intelligence Community as an analyst on political/military issues.听

Parting wisdom

鈥淢y advice to CU students would be to seek out adversity and听a non-traditional experience. Make it your own, and resist the urge to just go with the flow. Sometimes the best things wait upstream. You are in control of your life more than you think you are, and the best way to make the changes you want to see in your life are to get up early and go get it.鈥�