In the shadow of the towering Iwo Jima Memorial, graduates of GW’s Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps still got a lesson in humility.

Admiral James Stavridis urged the 34 newly commissioned second lieutenants and ensigns to keep their cool as officers and laugh a little, even as they step into big jobs.

“You have a very serious job, but don’t take yourself too seriously – because you are going to make mistakes,” Stavridis, who is set to retire this year, said. “I can assure you that nothing you do as an ensign or second lieutenant will irreparably damage the United States of America.”

Stavridis, whose daughter is among this year’s graduates, also commended the graduates for taking “an extraordinary leap of faith” in volunteering to serve their country.

The departing admiral, who was tapped this month to lead Tufts University’s international affairs school, also urged graduates to continue to “build intellectual capital” after graduation in the face of an increasingly complex Navy.

With just 10 percent of Department of Defense members speaking a second language, Stavridis coaxed the graduates to learn a foreign language.

“To know another language is to know another life,” Stavridis said.

Captain Andrew Cully called on the graduates of GW’s Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps to lead by example and with integrity.

“No other monument in this country, no other symbol speaks more to our shared core values of honor, courage and commitment,” Cully, GW Navy ROTC’s commanding officer, said of the monument depicting Marines raising the American flag during the Battle of Iwo Jima.

While many graduates are the first in their family to become military officers, others, like GW graduate 2nd Lt. Joseph Callahan, were following in familiar footsteps.

Callahan will head to the Basic School at Quantico, Va. for training with the 10 other newly commissioned Marines in his class.

“This is awesome. We all just put in so much hard work and now it finally paid off,” Callahan, whose father is also a Marine, said.

Among those is 2nd Lt. Joel Del Rosario, who joined Navy ROTC after five years of service in the Marine Corps.

After serving two tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq, where he earned a Purple Heart after being wounded by an improvised explosive device, Del Rosario enrolled at the University of Maryland and joined GW’s Navy ROTC program, training with much younger peers.

“You learn from them as much as they learn from you because the wolrd changes so often,” Del Rosario said.

While he learned new tech skills from his younger counterparts, Del Rosario said he shared basic Marine Corps skills from “back in the day” that are used in the field.

Ensigns Tyler Lutz and Amy Funk said they won’t miss their commutes from the University of Maryland and Catholic University, respectively, to arrive on GW’s campus at 6 or 7 a.m., but know they have tough roads ahead.

While Lutz will endure rigorous training in hopes of becoming a fighter pilot, Funk is looking forward to sleepless nights in military hospitals as she trains to become a career nurse in the Navy.

“It’s kind of surreal in a way that after four years I’m finally in the Navy,” Funk said. “I want to make a career out of it but I’m just going every tour and seeing how it is.”