HONOR DUTY RESPECT - The Citadel

The GlobalCitadelBy Cadet Franklin McGuireToday I went for a run in Hyde Park, walked past Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square and rode thetube to the British Library, where I did some writing. Yesterday, I spent the morning in the Houseof Lords, watching British parliamentarians debate foreign policy, and tomorrow I will go on abehind-the-scenes tour of Shakespeare’s Globe Theater. Yes, I am in London, and yes, I am loving it.I’m here taking part in The Citadel’s Summer Study inLondon program. I take classes two days a week on BritishRomantic poetry and Islam, and three days a week I intern inthe office of the Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust, an internationalrelief and advocacy organization founded by Baroness CarolineCox, a member of Parliament’s House of Lords. I am enjoyingmy classes and learning quite a bit from my work with HART,which has given me the opportunity to do everything fromresearching policy to writing for the website, from visitingParliament to helping Lady Cox prepare for speeches.All of these unique experiences have been made possible byThe Citadel, and by organizations like the Star of the WestFoundation that support it. With two years completed andtwo years now remaining, I can truly say I have loved it all andthat choosing to attend The Citadel is the best decision I haveever made.Not that it was at all an obvious decision. Other than a vagueimage in my mind of white walls, green palms, and red-checkeredquadrangles, I hardly knew anything about the military collegein Charleston. Because of the great respect I had for the fewgraduates I knew, however, I decided that it must be a place worthvisiting, so I did.The instant I drove through Lesesne Gate as a high school senioron that sunny September day, The Citadel commanded myattention. With its white-plastered buildings, verdant palms andlive oaks, my reaction was immediate and wholehearted. I loved it.That’s how I found myself back in Charleston one year later,unloading a few spare belongings from my car, saying goodbyeto my parents and my civilian clothes, and starting the greatestjourney of my life—knob year.My fourth-class year was the first of many gifts The Citadelhas given me. It was a greater challenge than any I hadpreviously undertaken, but my commitment gave me anunshakeable resolve that remains with me to this day. Everyweekday morning of my knob year I would wake up at 0530 toshave, shine my shoes and don my uniform before heading outfor an early morning sweep detail—a squad-sergeant-directedcleaning session of the barracks galleries by the other eight27