TUALATIN, Ore. — A Tualatin High School senior was part of a first-of-its-kind ceremony Wednesday morning. Natalie Unis was sworn into the United States Army Reserve by an astronaut at the International Space Station.
The library inside Tualatin High School looked very different. Students were not there to study, they were there to watch Unis take the oath of enlistment.
“Part of my decision was that I really I wanted to be able to serve my country that was a big part of it for me,” Unis explained. “I have a lot of family members who have served, so that was a really cool thing to be able to contribute to that.”
However, her swearing in was special.
“It's the first time it's ever happened, it's going nationwide,” explained Army Staff Sgt. Jose Rocha.
“General I have you loud and clear, welcome aboard the International Space Station,” the astronaut said during the live broadcast of the ceremony as people clapped.
“I just always felt like I'm just this one little person here in Tualatin, so it's such a big thing to be able to be sworn in from outer space, like, that's so far away and I'm over here in, I don't know, it's really cool,” Unis said.
Unis is joining the Army Reserves while she studies nursing next year at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. Her college is completely paid for because she was one of two students in Oregon chosen to receive a four-year scholarship through the Army's Cadet Command Program.
“It was quite the honor,” Unis said. “I did not think that I would be the one getting selected for this.”
