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The University of North Georgia (ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿) welcomed 242 new cadets during Freshman Recruit Orientation Group (FROG) Week, held Aug. 3-9 at ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿'s Dahlonega Campus.

FROG Week introduces freshmen to the Corps through physical challenges, as well as information sessions about the academic and military aspects they will experience in the next four years. Cadet leaders planned and executed FROG Week, as they do with all cadet events, under the supervision of the commandant staff.

Brianna Legg, a freshman from Dallas, Georgia, pursuing a degree in nursing, plans to work in the medical field and eventually serve as an OB-GYN or midwife. Legg is a Georgia Military Service Scholarship recipient. Through this scholarship, worth about $85,000 over four years, Legg serves in the Georgia Army National Guard while she is a cadet and commissions as a second lieutenant upon graduation.

Legg was inspired to enter health care by doing a ride-along with her brother, a first responder. Joining the Corps broadens the ways she can serve.

"I've always wanted to join the military," Legg said. "I want to be the first female in the military in my family."

Tucker Easter is an Army staff sergeant attending ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ through the active-duty option, which  allows him to remain on active duty while attending ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ and then commission as a second lieutenant upon graduation. Easter saw joining the Corps of Cadets as an opportunity to help shape his future. The experience of FROG Week was encouraging for him.

"Everybody is very positive. Everybody wants to be here," Easter, a freshman from Milledgeville, Georgia, pursuing a degree in interdisciplinary studies, said. "Everybody is highly motivated."

Morgen Ortiz, a freshman from Hollister, California, pursuing dual degrees in mathematics and engineering, attended a military training camp in Alabama in summer 2024 and fell in love with the South. After learning about senior military colleges and junior military colleges at the event, she decided ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ was the best fit for her.

Ortiz is part of the Simultaneous Membership Program that allows her to serve in the Army Reserve while she is part of the Corps.

"FROG Week is all about the struggle but going through it together. There's a big emphasis in Charlie Company about being a family, and I really stand for that," Ortiz said. "FROG Week can be really difficult and exhausting, but as long as you have your Froggie buddies and you get through it together, you'll be fine."

Retired Col. David Nichols '85 was the leader of a group of nine observer-controller-mentors (OCM) and three OCM coaches, including himself. They provided an extra set of eyes for the commandant and encouragement for the cadet leaders and FROGs. The OCMs were all alumni of the Corps of Cadets, and they are now members of the . Nichols appreciated the chance to watch the next generation of leaders start their Corps journey.

"What's really fun for us is that we get to watch these young people when they come in and see how they develop over the week," Nichols said. "In most of them, you'll see a marked improvement."