A slide depicting a map of an arid desert region illuminates sleepy faces on a Thursday morning. At the front of the classroom, a lecturer gives a lesson about politics, history and geography while the students scribble notes with one hand and sip coffee with the other.
Every weekday, morning warriors struggle to keep their eyes open in classrooms across campus, but these students are decked head to toe in digitized desert camouflage uniforms.
The students, who serve as army cadets in the UCLA Reserve Officer Training Corps, trade in their mornings and weekends for scholarships and the opportunity to commission as officers in the U.S. Armed Forces after graduation.