Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class John Owen | NAVAL STATION ROTA, Spain (Apr. 13, 2022)- The candidates for Naval Station (NAVSTA)...... read more read more
Four high school juniors – Emma Domingue, Eva Irby, Bekah Lamers, and Ella Scrivener – chat and laugh while a photographer poses them for a group photo on the Rota David Glasgow Farragut (DGF) complex.
These four students are candidates to represent the U.S. military community as a Dama, or ladies in the royal court, during the city of Rota’s annual Virgen del Rosario festivities in October. This annual event to honor the city’s patroness and honorary mayoress includes civic events, a coronation ceremony, a gala, and a solemn religious procession through the streets.
Each year, a gaining senior is selected to represent the American community of NAVSTA Rota highlighting the cooperation between the city of Rota and the base.
“This is a great opportunity for us to show the awesome relationship that the U.S. community has with the town of Rota, a relationship that has been going strong for over 60 years,” said Brenda Navarro Castellet, host nation protocol advisor for NAVSTA Rota. “The invitation by the town of Rota to always have an American Dama from the base participating in such a special and important event is always an honor for us.”
What initially was a program where a senior was selected to participate has grown into a program that aims to develop a young adult within a truly unique cultural activity. Navarro Castellet and Dr. Marcy Bond, guidance counselor at Rota DGF High School, formed a partnership over 10 years ago to make the program more than a simple name selection.
“The program has become an integral part of DGF culture, and every year juniors entering into their senior year are excited to participate in the selection process,” said Navarro Castellet. “Since it was created, we have tried to make it more exciting and appealing for the candidates and their families.”
Some of the changes include the addition of an interview process and involving the command and community in the selection process. NAVSTA Rota Spanish Liaison Office provides support throughout the months leading up to the festival weekend by helping to prepare the Dama and her family.
In March, Bond in conjunction with the Rota DGF registrar, sent out an application form asking for potential candidates. The applications are collected and interviews were set up in the school. Bond was looking for students who could handle the extracurricular demands of being a Dama while maintaining their grades.
Navarro Castellet and another coworker from the Spanish Liaison Office, Esperanza Hernández-Rodicio Romero, met with each candidate to ask questions – in both English and Spanish – to learn more about the student and determine whether they felt the student would be a good fit.
“We look for someone responsible, culturally aware, driven, outgoing, and with a good proficiency of the Spanish language,” said Navarro Castellet. “But overall someone willing to have the best of experiences as a teenager in southern Spain!”
Bond added, “Embracing being a Dama and having an appreciation for what an honor it is to be selected” in addition to many of the traits mentioned above. “The more a candidate is willing to learn and be open, the more she will get out of the experience.”
The willingness and openness to fully embrace the experience will impact the American Dama far after her tenure as Dama ends. Bond describes a common experience with many former Damas gaining lifelong friends and fond memories as well as the Spanish language becoming an integral part of their life.
“Several of our former Damas are now minoring in Spanish at university and each Dama has been overwhelmed at the level of Spanish they start the experience with and then the level with which they finish,” said Bond, with one even considering teaching Spanish after university.
Whoever is selected as Dama will be pushed outside their comfort zone, but each of the juniors are enthusiastic to see the growth and possibilities that come along with it.
“I will be able to learn about a culture that I have loved and only seen in text books until recently,” said Domingue, who has lived in Spain for a year.
This experience outside the traditional American experience in Rota, is reiterated by Lamers.
“I want to embrace more of the Spanish tradition and culture, as well as honor the Virgin Mary,” she said. “I want to experience more of the life I have been able to experience the last three years [in Rota].”
To each of the young ladies, their time in Rota – from one year to multiple years – has left a lasting impact.
“I think Spain has become such a big part of me, and living here has truly impacted the person I am today,” Scrivener said of her five years here. “I just want to find a way to give back to my community.”
Irby repeated this desire to give back to the community that has provided so much to her over the years.
“Getting to connect to this beautiful town in a way that only a few people get to do, will give me lessons and memories that will last a lifetime,” she said.
The honor of representing the American community here in Rota will be a hard decision for those involved in the selection process.
“The candidates for this year are amazing!” said Bond. “Four of the most amazing young women, each who have qualities that would make an ideal Dama and would make DGF Rota HS proud. I have no idea how they will possibly be able to choose!”
Tune in for the next “Making of an American Dama” when NAVSTA Rota will announce who was selected as the Dama representing the U.S. military population, in addition to learning a bit more about the her and what she hopes to achieve from her Dama experience.
| Date Taken: | 04.21.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 04.21.2022 06:39 |
| Story ID: | 418925 |
| Location: | ES |
| Web Views: | 508 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Making of an American Dama, Part 1: The Candidates, by Courtney Pollock, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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