Angel Rosemond has always had a knack for languages. She easily picked up the Spanish her mother taught her as a child in their home.
"I actually loved learning languages," Rosemond said.
The 20-year-old from Douglasville, Georgia, also loved helping her community and felt called to serve her country after she joined the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC).
"When I thought about what I wanted to do in the future, I wanted to help people. Then I thought, 'How do I want to help America?'" Rosemond said. "By joining the military I can help in a small way."
Rosemond combined her two loves at the University of North Georgia (UNG). The junior is pursuing a degree in modern languages with a concentration in Arabic as a member of the Corps of Cadets.
"I wanted to major in something that I could use in the military that was interesting to learn. I landed on Arabic," said Rosemond, who hopes to attend the Defense Language Institute.
Rosemond has progressed toward that goal since she earned early acceptance to UNG coupled with an ROTC scholarship. After she graduated high school in 2017, she attended UNG's Summer Language Institute (SLI) for Arabic and earned eight academic credit hours during the six-week summer session. In summer 2018, Rosemond studied abroad in Fes, Morocco.
"It was an amazing experience!" Rosemond said. "I got to experience a different culture and grow my language skills in the real world. My favorite part of the study abroad was my host family who lived in the old city."
SLI and her study abroad trip were funded through a Project Global Officer (Project GO) scholarship.
"The scholarships are really important," Rosemond said. "I try my hardest to get them and keep them and get more."
Hard work is in store for her in spring 2020 as she prepares for Advanced Camp in the summer at Fort Knox in Kentucky. The rigorous, 12-week training is a program cadets must complete to be commissioned in the military. Cadets are tested on rifle marksmanship, buddy-team live fire, hand grenades, first aid, Army combat fitness, land navigation and much more.
"Training for Advanced Camp is the most difficult thing I've done aside from one other thing," said Rosemond, who is the squad leader for Delta Company.
The other thing is becoming a member of Sigma Gamma Rho, one of nine historically black international Greek-lettered sororities and fraternities. Rosemond along with UNG students Imani Arnold and Uriyah Davis made history Nov. 17 when they were presented as the newest members of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc., the first African American sorority presence at UNG.
"I want a little bit of legacy," she said. "I'm hoping Imani, Uriyah and I can ramp up interest and build a community here because there are not that many people on campus who look like me here."
