Some students talk about seizing chances; Jake Stahl keeps finding the ones that test him. As a cadet in PennWest Edinboro ROTC, he’s also part of the Simultaneous Membership Program (SMP)—training as a cadet during the semester while drilling with the National Guard one weekend a month and two weeks each summer. “It lets me see both sides of the house,” he says.

That dual track has opened doors he never imagined. Jake earned his Air Assault wings—then turned around and shared the skillset, teaching knots and Swiss-seat rappel rigs, pushing ruck standards, and holding peers to what he calls “the standard of excellence.” ROTC has also put him on some big stages: color-guard details on NFL fields and NBA courts. “We’re here to train leaders… the words you say and the decisions you make do have an effect on people’s lives.”

The lesson crystallized in the New Mexico desert at the Bataan Memorial Death March. Twenty miles into the 26.2-mile ruck, when every step hurt, he focused on why he was there: “We’re out there to represent something far larger than ourselves… to acknowledge the burden that we’re picking up, that we are picking up where they left off.” Then came the mindset he leans on in hard moments—continue mission.

Ask Jake why he chose this path and he keeps coming back to growth and purpose. “I like having opportunities,” he says. “PennWest has 100% enabled me to look into my own future potential and tap into what I know I’m capable of.” The finish line he’s chasing isn’t just graduation—it’s a commission as a Second Lieutenant and a career of leading others.