WESTERLO — Trevor Burnside knows that doing the small things right leads to doing the big things better.

In this week’s Enterprise podcast, Burnside describes the sound of each member of a platoon pulling forward the bolt on their rifles at the exact same time.

“You can only hear one sound … It is awesome,” he said.

Burnside recently competed with the Shock Platoon of Norwich University at the Mardi Gras Drill Competition hosted by Tulane University in New Orleans. His squad got perfect scores and placed first both in the Color Guard and Squad Basic competition.

He’s in the Shock Platoon, Burnside said, because it gives him a sense of discipline and order.

“If you can’t do a right face correctly, you’re not going to be able to go through and lead a group of people. If you can’t hold yourself accountable to not move when you’re told to not move, you’re not going to be able to go through under pressure … to focus and lead people,” said Burnside.

He concluded, “Do the small things right and then you do the big things better.”

Burnside, who graduated from Berne-Knox-Westerlo in 2019, knew from a young age he wanted to be in the military. Both his father and uncle served in the Air Force. He spoke with a recruiter at the age of 16.

He is a member of the Corps of Cadets at Norwich, leading a military lifestyle. Founded in 1819, Norwich University – The Military College of Vermont is the oldest private and senior military college in the United States.

“You have to wake up every morning for formation. We have room inspections every Thursday. We have much higher standards,” says Burnside, noting it wasn’t until his junior year he was allowed to have a TV or an XBox in his room.

“You have to earn everything,” he said of being in the Corps of Cadets.

He described a typical Monday on campus when he wakes at 5 a.m. for drill then, after breakfast and a shower, goes to formation where the entire corps gathers as a cannon is fired and the American flag is raised with reville.

Burnside is majoring in mechanical engineering so he has a heavy course load — 20 credits right now — attending classes from eight in the morning until four in the afternoon. After that, he has drill training for two hours until dinner.

He has always enjoyed math and likes the physics component of mechanical engineering. “I enjoy learning how things work,” says Burnside.

Burnside is under contract with the Air Force and on graduation day will be commissioned as a second lieutenant.

“I’ve always wanted to serve my country and be something bigger than myself,” said Burnside.

What he has valued most at Norwich is the teamwork. “You go through a lot of stuff together and you really bond with people a lot closer than you would in any civilian sector,” he said.

Although he values his friendships from BKW — and also the way he learned effective time management playing three sports and being in the school play senior year — at Norwich he’s made “the best friends I’ve ever had in my life,” said Burnside.

He’s particularly close to his “rook brothers,” the young men who were rookies with him during their basic training.

Burnside speculates he is having a different kind of fun than some of his high school classmates but asserts, “I’m definitely having fun.”

He gives the example of marching in the Mardi Gras parade with his drill team. He was with his buddy who would “throw triples” — spinning an eight-and-a-half pound rifle in the air three times and then catching it.

He describes the Norwich campus, in Vermont, as “a lot like Berne” — it’s “in the woods” with a mountain on campus. Burnside and his classmates enjoy outdoor sports like skiing.

Another aspect he likened to BKW is that “you know everybody so you kind of have to be careful of the drama … you have to hold yourself accountable to things.”

Burnside has committed to serve six years in the Air Force after graduation and he says he’d like to serve 20 years. He signed on when the United States was still at war in Afghanistan and says he has thought a lot about what it would mean to fight in a war.

“That’s a really big thing. We talk about that all the time, actually, especially with our current events,” he said, referencing Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

“We could be going to war and it’s a very scary thing to think of,” said Burnside. “But it’s really the reason that you join. It’s your duty … to serve your country in its time of need …. You have to step up because who else is going to step up?”

Burnside had this closing advice, “People are the most important thing in your life by far. I learned that at Norwich. So really take care of the people in your lives, especially your family and close friends because they’ll be there for you no matter what.”