Jake Pope, a junior aeronautics major at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Worldwide campus at Moody Air Force Base, Ga., and cadet in Valdosta State University’s Air Force ROTC program, has been awarded a $5,000 Embry-Riddle Board of Trustees Endowed ROTC Scholarship.

“It’s the first scholarship I’ve ever won in my life,” said Pope. “I was ecstatic. I started telling a million people, I was so excited.”

Pope, who has a 3.99 cumulative GPA, expects to graduate from Embry-Riddle next year with a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautics and commission with a pilot’s slot in the U.S. Air Force. Pope said choosing Embry-Riddle Worldwide out of high school under a cross-town agreement with Valdosta State’s AFROTC detachment was “the best decision I have ever made.” 

Pope said that originally he wanted to be an Air Force pilot to become financially stable enough to fly humanitarian missions to third-world nations. Now he loves the idea of becoming an officer in the U.S. Air Force and wants to make a career of it. 

“The end goal of my life,” he said, “is to fly those humanitarian missions, spread relief to the some of the poorest parts of the world and just be a good person. That’s what motivates me more than anything if I’m feeling down.” 

The Embry-Riddle Board of Trustees Endowed ROTC Scholarship honors students who represent the best our nation has to offer and demonstrate the courage and character to lead our armed forces. Cadets must be enrolled full-time ROTC students at the Daytona Beach, Fla., Prescott, Ariz. or Worldwide campus.

The scholarship is open to all majors, and students must be recommended by their commanders for consideration. The university president makes the final selection. 

For more on Pope and Embry-Riddle Worldwide, go to http://www.worldwide.erau.edu/newsroom/press-releases/embry-riddle-worldwide-student-wins-trustee-scholarship