When Peter Angotti ’24 came to Clark as a first-year student, he knew his college experience would be somewhat unconventional.

In addition to starting his college career during the COVID-19 pandemic, Angotti was one of just four Clark students enrolled in the Army ROTC program. Next week, when he walks across the stage at Commencement, he will be the only member of the Class of 2024 to have commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army.

“It’s definitely one of those things that stands out at Clark. It’s not a very common experience,” he says.

Clark cadets are members of the Bay State Battalion — one of 274 Senior Army ROTC battalions across the United States. The program is hosted at neighboring Worcester Polytechnic Institute and is made up of students from all Worcester colleges and universities, as well as Fitchburg State University and the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

In addition to doing physical training three mornings each week, cadets attend a weekly military science class and participate in a weekly leadership laboratory. Leadership labs may involve learning the basics of drill and ceremony, land navigation, and first aid, to more complicated small-unit tactics like a platoon ambush or setting up a patrol base.

“It’s given me a chance to test myself in different ways outside of academics,” Angotti says.

Angotti initially planned to major in psychology at Clark but found himself becoming fascinated with history — a subject he was always naturally drawn to in high school — after taking a course with Professor Elizabeth Imber in his first semester. He completed the Honors Program in history as a senior and focused his thesis on The Troubles — a period of Catholic-Protestant conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted from the late 1960s to 1998.

Angotti’s research examined not only the history of the conflict but also how people in Boston reacted to it.

“It’s very personal. That’s what I like about history — you’re getting those individual stories,” he says.

Angotti says studying history has helped him become a more engaged, globally aware citizen and has bolstered his critical thinking skills. These skills, he notes, will be crucial as he enters the next chapter of his life as a military leader.

“Being in the Army, you are a part of the government. You have these responsibilities to something much larger than yourself,” he says. “That comes with a certain degree of responsibility to understand the world and how it works.”

In October, Angotti will move to Georgia to complete his Basic Officer Leader Course at Fort Moore and receive specialized training as an armor officer. Eventually, he will lead a platoon of 20-25 soldiers.

“I’m going to be somewhere completely new, doing something completely new, and getting a ton of new experiences that way,” he says. “That’s part of the draw, but it’s also the fact that it provides a little bit of stability at this critical time in my life. I have a plan. And after four years, the world opens all up again.”