Kristin Sundvall wrote a letter to the judges of her senior project explaining that she trained Creekview High School's drill team for her project. She comes from a military family and plans to join the Army after college. For her research paper, she studied veteran suicide and learned about the strict military culture that prevents soldiers from showing emotion. Training the drill team helped her understand how cadets must maintain a stoic expression and rigid posture. Though the project was time-consuming, it improved her leadership skills and taught others discipline and punctuality.

1. 1550 Owens Store Road
Canton, GA 30115
30 March 2012
Judges, Senior Project
Creekview High School
1550 Owens Store Road
Canton, GA 30115
Dear Judges:
My name is Kristin Sundvall. I come from a military family, so I’ve always known I would
someday be serving in the armed forces. I am very active in JROTC and will definitely continue
with ROTC in college. I am hoping to go to the University of Georgia and major in computer
sciences while simultaneously earning a commission as an Army officer through ROTC by 2016.
Since I am so active in JROTC, I know a lot about drill and ceremony, so I chose to train
Creekview’s drill team for my senior project.
My research paper is about veteran suicide. Through my research, I found that the rate of veteran
suicide is extremely high and hard to prevent. I also found that one of the main reasons a veteran
will commit suicide is because the strict military culture does not allow them to show emotion,
so they often do not exhibit suicidal behavior. I wanted to get a better understanding of what it is
like to always have to keep a military bearing, and training the drill team definitely showed me
because the cadets on the drill team are mentally disciplined and strictly trained. Cadets showing
anything other than a stoic expression and rigid body could cause the team to lose a competition.
There were a lot of obstacles to overcome, such as memorizing command sequences and training
new cadets, but the project was worth it in the end.
My research and senior project have given me a better look at the dark side of what I will be
experiencing in the military. However, it has not changed my thoughts about the military. I will
continue to persue a military career. I have learned a lot about myself. I have learned that I work
better when I am more organized and I work harder under strict instruction. Also, I have learned
that I am a natural leader and a good teacher, but extremely impatient with people who do not
learn quickly.
Although this project was time consuming and tedious, I think it was a good learning experience.
I have improved my leadership skills because of it and I got to teach others a valuable military
skill as well as some life skills such as discipline and punctuality. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Kristin Sundvall