Really Was …
Local Cadet Writes, Illustrates Children’s Book
Sofia Fleming is a long-time Rockbridge County resident and a cadet at the Virginia Military Institute. She is currently a sophomore or 3rd classman, and she completed VMI’s famous Rat Line in the spring of 2025.
The Rat Line is a training process for incoming freshmen, called Rats, which helps form Rats into disciplined cadets.”
The Rat Line made such a positive impression on her that she would draw cartoon Rats in her spare time, as well as write little poems about the Rat Line. After sending her parents some of her work, her dad encouraged her to create a children’s book about the Rat Line. That is where Fleming’s book titled “This Rat … A Military College Story” was born.
Inspired by her experiences from being a Rat, she hand drew cartoon Rats for each of the challenging Rat Line activities in a whimsical light to emphasize the positive attributes of the Rat Line. Fleming believed that a cheerful outlook helped her complete her journey through the Rat Line. She incorporated her sense of humor in her drawings and rhymes with Rats counting blocks of cheese in Rat math class or lifting cheese wheels in the Rat gym. Each page of the book is a humorous tribute to the adventures that Rats make on their journey to become upperclassmen.
Fleming moved with her family to a farm in Rockbridge County in 2009 when she was almost 4. Homeschooled, she graduated from high school with Classical Conversations, a home schooling coop, in Waynesboro.
She had participated in Rockbridge County 4-H since she was 6. She was the supreme showman at the Rockbridge Regional Fair and Miss Rockbridge in 2022. She became a 4-H All-Star in 2024. She showed dairy goats at the Rockbridge Regional Fair and the Virginia State Fair, where she also was the state champion dairy goat showman. She is an avid photographer and won various awards at a few of the Rockbridge Regional Fairs.
VMI was the only college that Fleming applied to because she wanted to attend a school that would challenge her academically, physically, and mentally. As an English major, she wanted a school that would push her to become a better writer, and she was attracted to VMI’s rigorous academic programs.
Fleming has always dreamed of becoming an author, although she never thought her first published book would be a children’s book about Rats.
In an interview, she said, “VMI’s funny title for freshmen inspired me to write a children’s book. Each drawing was based on a memory that I have about the Rat Line. The Rat Line feels nostalgic at this point since I broke out just a year ago. Every time I see one of my drawings, it makes me smile because it reminds me of all the funny moments and good times that I had during the challenging Rat Line.”
Sofia’s oldest sister, Alia, matriculated at the Virginia Military Institute in 1999, which was a quarter of a century before Sofia would take the same oath and continue the legacy. Alia was a member of the third class of women to matriculate at VMI, and she positively encouraged Sofia to consider attending the school.
Sofia and Alia both agree that they could not imagine going to college anywhere else and would go through the Rat Line all over again.
Fleming’s book and stickers of the book’s illustrations are available at the VMI Museum and on Amazon.
