Wasser ’25: Chief of Staff

To say that Cadet Carter Wasser ’25 is involved in lots of activities at VMI risks a major understatement. On the academic side, she’s a civil and environmental engineering major who’s president of the Society of Women Engineers, secretary of the Society of American Society of Civil Engineers, and the concrete canoe co-captain. And that’s just in Nichols Engineering Building.

Elsewhere on post, Wasser can be found in the Aquatic Center as a member of the Keydet women’s swimming team. Up on the hill, she’s cadet chief of staff—a recently created position in which she acts as a liaison between the regimental commander and other staffs—and a member of the Cadet Superintendent Advisory Board. She’s a member of the Blood Drive Committee, the scuba club, and the golf club. And she’s cadet in charge of the aviation club, which allows select cadets the chance to take flying lessons at Shenandoah Regional Airport. Add in Omicron Delta Kappa, a national leadership organization, and that makes for a mostly complete list of Wasser’s activities—except that she’s a career services ambassador for the Office of Career Services.

“You only have 4 years in your cadetship, and I’d rather be busy than bored,” Wasser notes of her jam-packed schedule, which she manages with a color-coordination system.

Wasser came to VMI from King George, Virginia, a rural community east of Fredericksburg, knowing that the Institute would provide her with everything she was seeking in a college: The chance to study environmental engineering, swim for a Division I school, and commission in the Army upon graduation.

Showing up somewhat cold, with little knowledge of VMI, might prove a detriment to some cadets—but not Wasser. “I think that kind of helped me just jump right into it,” she stated. “If I kind of knew more than I would have, it’d be like, I don’t know if I’d want to go here, but after jumping like feet first in, I absolutely love it here.”

As a rat, and especially a cadet-athlete rat, Wasser had to learn time management skills on a whole new level. “[With] morning practices for swim, I’d wake up and I’d go to morning practice, and then I’d have to run up and make sure my dyke’s hay was up and still get breakfast before I went to class. And kind of knowing that I had to make sure I had everything on time was really hard for me. I wasn’t very good at time management, and now it’s like my favorite thing. I absolutely love a schedule.”

At first, Wasser also struggled to understand her purpose in going to VMI. “My purpose started to click once I started gaining more friendships within my BRs, understanding that I have 400 brother rats that are my absolute best friends, and I as an only child, I really didn’t have that back at home,” she related. “I would miss rat challenge and rat training because of swim practice,” she continued. “So [my brother rats] would come over after taps and teach me all the things that I didn’t know. And so that kind of kept me going—even though I wasn’t there, they were still understanding that I wanted to be a part of it and understand the system. And so them coming over after taps was one of the greatest things I had as a rat.”

As the recipient of a Keydet Club scholarship, which enabled her to avoid student loans, Wasser has come to be thankful not only for her BRs, but also for the donors who make her education possible. Today, she still remembers the relief and gratitude she felt when she learned she’d be a scholarship recipient.

“I was super excited about [the scholarship] … to know that I didn’t have to have that burden [of loans] on me coming into VMI,” she stated. “I was so thankful that I could just focus on what I was doing here at VMI and not think about financials.”

What’s more, Wasser has come to know the donors who are supporting her education, as well as some of those supporting her teammates. “They do so much for us, not only from a financial standpoint, but they come and visit us and come to our swim meets,” she commented. “They’re there to watch us succeed, not only in the pool, but in academics, and to know that they’re having our backs 100% of the time is something I can’t be more thankful for.”

As her time at VMI draws down to a matter of months, Wasser is keenly aware that the time to cherish moments with teammates and brother rats is now. “I’m just living in the moment as much as I can,” she related. “I’m going to miss [VMI] every single day.”