Quincy Maxwell is a Junior business administration major at Howard, hailing from Somerset, New Jersey. He currently serves as a Cadet in the Howard ROTC program, and details his newfound wisdom from the program. During the Summer of 2018, Quincy and I were anxiously awaiting our roommate selections. They were not revealed to us until 3 days before move-in, which did not present a ton of time to iron out logistics. Low and behold, Quincy and I were slated to be roommates in Drew Hall. We speak about how both of us had conflicting ideas of the other based on our Instagram profiles. We direct messaged one another to establish the general connection, and the rest is history. Before living together, Maxwell had actually just completed a pre-med program in Howard’s campus. Though he was able to meet some of his closest friends during that time, including episode 19 guest and ROTC battle buddy Samaria Campbell, he realized two things. 1) Biology was not his passion and 2) The Summer experience would be drastically different. Q and I spent the first week of School getting to know the rest of our dorm and playing lots of basketball. At the end of the week, just two days before classes were slated to begin, we both engaged in “HU Day of Service”. This volunteering event placed members all across the DMV. It was there that I first heard him make a mention of joining ROTC. He describes in detail how he saw all the benefits holistically, and knew that he could meet them in the middle with his work ethic. There were certainly growing pains, and it was by no means simple to begin running 5 miles everyday or go on long Ruck marches. However because he has stayed the course, and done so so well, he was granted with a scholarship from Howard’s ROTC. In just a few months, he had shot up to the top of his class. He also appreciates ROTC because he feels like he’s working for something greater than himself. Between our Freshman and Sophomore years, Maxwell finally changed his major from Biology to Business. During a pre-med Summer program, his interests had drastically shifted to the stock market. He had to question why he was going the long, taxing medical route when he was more passionate about business. Recorded 2.25.21.
