NORFOLK, Va. — A local family has really stepped up to serve their country.
This weekend, a Norfolk State ROTC cadet will become the fifth member of his immediate family to go to NSU and then become commissioned into the U.S. military.
The stage is all set at Echols Hall for Norfolk State University's December graduation ceremony.
Among the proud graduates will be members of NSU's ROTC program, and from that elite group will be Julian Darnell Exum.
He is following in the footsteps of relatives who've gone before him.
Julian will become the fifth member of his immediate family to have attended Norfolk State, graduated, and commissioned into the U.S. military.
He will become an Army officer and hopes to serve in the Transportation Corps.
Exum's mother, father, his father's twin brother, and his uncle -- who was a Tuskegee Airman -- are all commissioned graduates of NSU.
"That's how I look at it, the family business," he said.
Julian said the idea of serving his country was drilled into him from an early age.
"My family believes in the John F. Kennedy mantra: 'Ask not what your country can do for you, but, what you can do for your country,'" he said. "So it's all about selfless service."
Julian added there's no better place where he could've learned and gotten ready for what lies ahead than at NSU.
"Norfolk State University is a great university," he said. "It's a rigorous program. So, it prepares you to have discipline and focus. I wanted the HBCU experience, and I think it set me up very well for life."
The NSU commissioning ceremony is on Friday, and the graduation ceremony is on Saturday.
And, as if the Exum family hasn't done enough for the country, there is more. Julian's twin brother is graduating this weekend from Virginia State University. In January, Darian Exum will attend the Coast Guard's Officer Candidate School.