On a random morning during winter break of his first year as a University of Virginia student, Henry Addison put on a T-shirt that would change the trajectory of his college career.
"Pain is weakness leaving the body" was printed across the chest of Addison’s tee when the Crozet native arrived at his local gym. It was an old shirt, one Addison had earned years earlier after finishing 20 pull-ups at a football game. But, on this day, it was good enough for an icebreaker.
An active member of the U.S. Marine Corps approached.
"He asked me why I was wearing it," Addison recalled. "And we started talking. I mentioned that I just completed my first semester at UVA and hoped to transfer into nursing.
"He looked at me and said, ‘You know you can do that in the military.’"
Addison, now a midshipman in UVA’s U.S. Navy ROTC program in addition to a School of Nursing student, detailed his journey to service Friday as part of a reception ahead of the UVA baseball team’s game against the University of California, Berkeley, and its annual Military Appreciation Night at Disharoon Park.
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Addison is a third-year student actively pursuing a healthcare career in the Navy. He’s enrolled in the NROTC Navy Nurse Program.
"What drew me most to the Nurse Corps was the idea that compassion and leadership are not separate qualities," Addison said. "Military nursing is built on the belief that caring for people, especially during the hardest moments of their lives, is itself an act of service and courage."
Addison’s story is part of UVA’s proud military tradition. President Scott Beardsley noted Friday that there are around 300 veterans in the University’s current student body in addition to those in the ROTC programs and JAG School, and "many faculty and staff who served," Beardsley said.
The president’s uncle, a U.S. Army colonel, taught at the UVA JAG School. "That was my first exposure to UVA," Beardsley said.
UVA is rated in the top 10 for veterans, according to U.S. News and World Report’s latest rankings of colleges and universities. Since September 2021, the UVA Veteran Student Center in Newcomb Hall has served as an active space for UVA’s military community, including student veterans and ROTC students.
"I want to thank you for all that you do for this University and for the country," Beardsley told the members of UVA’s military community who gathered for the reception. "It really makes our community better and our world a better place. I really believe that."
