Running sprints up Libe Slope early on a cold Monday, as thunder rumbled and a downpour began, Samuel Rabin ’25 felt a moment of disbelief – why are we doing this? – along with determination to persevere through the extreme conditions.

“I wanted to set an example and help motivate others,” Rabin, the outgoing cadet commander of Cornell’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) Tri-Service Brigade, recalled of that morning during his junior year. “You want to be up front, showing that if people are still going up the slope while it’s raining and wet and cold, then you can, too.”