{"id":296205,"date":"2024-10-09T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-09T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=296205"},"modified":"2024-10-09T06:49:34","modified_gmt":"2024-10-09T06:49:34","slug":"camp-zama-hs-graduate-speaks-to-jrotc-cadets-on-experiences-as-newly-commissioned-army-officer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=296205","title":{"rendered":"Camp Zama HS graduate speaks to JROTC cadets on experiences as newly commissioned Army officer"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Kayesha McNeill, right, a 2020 graduate of Zama Middle High School and former member of the school\u2019s Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, speaks to cadets Sept. at the school about her experiences as a newly commissioned U.S. Army officer.
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CAMP ZAMA, Japan \u2013 An alumna of Zama Middle High School returned to her former campus to speak to Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets here on her experiences as a newly commissioned U.S. Army officer.<\/p>\n

Kayesha McNeill, a former JROTC cadet herself who graduated from ZMHS in 2020, spoke to current cadets in the school\u2019s Trojan Battalion Sept. 30, wanting to mentor and give them insight into the Army career she has just begun.<\/p>\n

While speaking to the cadets, McNeill emphasized to them the importance of setting goals, staying motivated and seeking mentorship. She said it was an honor to talk to the cadets because she started where they are now, and she was happy to offer advice to any who may be considering a similar career path.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a full-circle moment for me,\u201d McNeill said. \u201cI know I was once in their shoes, so it was a really good opportunity to be able to tell them about my experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

McNeill discussed the various opportunities available to students interested in military service, including scholarships, college programs and career paths, and emphasized the value of mentorship and the importance of supporting one another.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing I love about the Army is the mentorship that comes with it,\u201d McNeill said. \u201cI\u2019ve benefited from my mentors helping me out.\u201d<\/p>\n

McNeill said having good mentors helped her be successful throughout college and to get a good start on the military career for which she was aiming.<\/p>\n

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\n Kayesha McNeill, second from left, is seen here in a photo with her family following her Army Reserve Officer Training Corp\u2019 commissioning ceremony May 17 at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. (Courtesy photo)
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\u201cI take mentorship very seriously; it\u2019s something I take pride in,\u201d McNeill said. \u201cI love helping people and being able to shed light from my experiences to be able to help the next person who wants to do the same thing or have the same route as me.\u201d<\/p>\n

McNeill said that through her presentation, she hoped she was able to guide the cadets and be a mentor to them herself.<\/p>\n

Cadet 1st Sgt. Cheyenne Coleman, a sophomore, said she found McNeill\u2019s presentation inspiring to see a former JROTC cadet from her same school who is now an Army officer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really exciting to see how it all lays out in the end,\u201d Coleman said. \u201cEven though it seems really hard through the process, at the end, it\u2019s going to have a way better outcome than it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coleman said hearing McNeill\u2019s story made her realize that her dreams of becoming an intelligence officer in the Navy are achievable.<\/p>\n

Retired Lt. Col. Douglas Fields, the senior JROTC instructor, said McNeill was one of his very first cadets since he began working at ZMHS, so it was very special to have her come back as a commissioned officer and to have his cadets see everything she had achieved.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe established her goal early on, and obviously she\u2019s fulfilled that,\u201d Fields said. \u201cWords can\u2019t describe [how I feel].\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kayesha McNeill, right, a 2020 graduate of Zama Middle High School and former member of the school\u2019s Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, speaks to cadets Sept. at the school about her experiences as a newly commissioned U.S. Army officer. (Photo Credit: Noriko Kudo) VIEW ORIGINAL CAMP ZAMA, Japan \u2013 An alumna of Zama Middle High […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":296207,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-296205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=296205"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":296210,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296205\/revisions\/296210"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/296207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=296205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=296205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=296205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}