Photo By Sarah Windmueller | Dilia Reyes-Hill is an ECP Cadet at Valley Forge Military Academy and College. She is...... read more read more
Subscribe
Dilia Reyes-Hill has always been quiet.
Growing up as one of three daughters to Honduran immigrants, she felt content to exist in the comfortable bubble created by her tight-knit family.
“I was really an introvert. I was very shy,” Reyes-Hill said. “I didn’t talk much with other kids. I was very close to my two sisters, and we would always be outside playing and climbing trees.”
Starting out as a silent observer, Reyes-Hill knew she couldn’t continue on that path. The Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) offered an opportunity to push boundaries and develop leadership skills to prepare her for success as an Army ROTC Cadet and future Army officer.
“She likes challenges. She likes the challenges to be with other people and she likes to win,” said Dilia Reyes-Hill Sr., Reyes-Hill’s mother. “She knows she can climb a tree, she knows she can run fast, she knows she can do a lot of things better than boys.”
***
From a young age, Reyes-Hill was accustomed to change. Her family moved frequently as her father, an electrician, found new work opportunities.
Family became the only constant factor in her life and remains the core of all her motivation.
“She’s always been generous,” Mrs. Reyes-Hill said. “If she has something, she’s like, ‘Mami, do you need something?’ Anything that I need, if it’s in her power, she will help me out.”
“I just like helping my family,” Reyes-Hill adds. “It’s the only thing that I really want to do.”
Reyes-Hill found acceptance in a new family that drove her outside of her introverted shell when she joined JROTC her sophomore year at Liberty Magnet High School in Baton Rouge, La.
Her evolution took time, timidly moving forward but fueled by a selfless desire to help. Reyes-Hill had a natural predisposition for leadership, but she struggled to find confidence with her own voice – whether speaking Spanish or English.
“I felt like sometimes I didn’t quite say the correct words or in the correct manner,” she said. “It made me feel insecure about who I was for a while, and it just made me feel scared having to speak.”
She continued observing and learning, pushing cautiously forward when leadership moments arose. Time passed, and Reyes-Hill excelled in JROTC. Slowly, but surely, a change took place.
“I was able to talk more, and that’s what helped me a lot with my transition from being shy to being kind of loud and talkative,” Reyes-Hill said. “I was able to connect more and talk about JROTC and military-related stuff.”
“I dedicated my time to it,” she adds. “I tried so hard to improve because I wanted to do my best and do better.”
Her peers and instructors took notice of Reyes-Hill’s progression. It was something they’d already been encouraging and expecting.
“A lot of times the kids are quiet or shy or reluctant to step forward to be a leader,” said Col. (Ret) William Laigaie, senior Army instructor for Liberty Magnet High School JROTC. “We give them the opportunity to be leaders, and one of the things that Dilia did was she stepped forward to be a leader.”
Her mother also noticed the transformation.
“When she became involved and started to get more involved in JROTC activities, she was excited to come home and tell me about the classes,” Mrs. Reyes-Hill said. “She liked that attention because it was positive attention.”
***
With the help of her JROTC instructors, Reyes-Hill received a full-scholarship through the Early Commissioning Program (ECP) to Valley Forge Military Academy and College. The ECP allows students who attend a military junior college to complete Army ROTC in two years and receive a commission as a second lieutenant in the United States Army.
Once commissioned, these officers then go on to complete their education at a four-year institution while serving in the Army National Guard or the U.S. Army Reserve.
Even with the prospect of a scholarship, Reyes-Hill wrestled with doubts in her abilities.
“She is hard on herself, extremely hard,” Laigaie said.
Even though they were incredibly supportive of their daughter, Mrs. Reyes-Hill wouldn’t hear about her daughter – her Little Dilia – moving over 1,200 miles away.
“Having her far away from me? Oh no, no, no,” Mrs. Reyes-Hill said.
“It wasn’t because of the war or anything like that. I’m thinking she’s a lady and it’s a lot of tough stuff…and to me she’s a lady, she’s not tall – to me she was too tiny for this.”
The idea of Army ROTC was off the table. Reyes-Hill resumed looking at other colleges but continued revisiting and discussing the Army ROTC offer with her mother.
After months of talking with both Col. Laigaie and her daughter, Mrs. Reyes-Hill began to see the opportunity in a more positive light.
“The Lord spoke to my heart,” she said. “I told Dilia if you want to do it, I’m going to support you. I will have peace if you want to do it, and we’re going to do everything it takes to see that you’re going to be fine. Know that I’m with you.”
Even with her family’s full support, Reyes-Hill still drug her feet on the decision.
“I didn’t think that I had what it takes to exceed the expectations of my Cadre and my JROTC instructor,” Reyes-Hill said. “I was really nervous and scared because I just felt like the stereotype was there of me being female, me being small, not having a lot of strength.”
In the end, the prospect of an education and future free of debt overpowered fears held by both mother and daughter.
“I always saw my parents struggle with money and that’s always been with me and why I took the scholarship in the end,” Reyes-Hill said. “I thought it would be a good idea to help my family so that college was already paid for. I didn’t have to worry about college I could just go live my life and not have my parents worry.”
Mrs. Reyes-Hill viewed it as an opportunity for her daughter’s growth, with the added benefit of all financial hesitations removed.
“I don’t want her to have that big financial burden in the future because she has to take a loan,” Mrs. Reyes-Hill said. “Knowing that she’s so bashful, maybe if she’s out there she can come out of her shell a little bit and the world can see how great she is.”
“If I keep her here, nobody is really going to see her, but if she goes out there, she can shine and that’s what has been happening.”
***
Reyes-Hill continues expanding outside of her comfort zone. She finished her first year studying engineering at Valley Forge, setting a high standard for herself and her peers. She is currently at Fort Knox, Ky. with 7th Regiment Advanced Camp before her final year with the ECP program.
Her family shares every success with Reyes-Hill and remains constantly amazed as she conquers any challenges in her path.
Mrs. Reyes-Hill is excited to see her daughter’s next chapter.
“I see her doing great things and changing people’s lives because she can talk to people’s hearts,” Mrs. Reyes-Hill said. “She’s not going to go around the corners, she’s going to tell them like it is. She can change people’s lives.”
While the fears and doubts of each new life experience still linger, Reyes-Hill finds the best way to persevere is to just get the job done.
“I prove I can do it,” she said. “At Valley Forge, sometimes we do really hard stuff like six to 12-mile rucks with 35 pounds of ruck. At Basic Camp I did it with a weapon, and this year were going to do it with other types of weapons that are even heavier.”
“As long as I keep improving, as long as I keep volunteering for the hard stuff and not giving in to that stereotype that I can do the smaller lesser type things, every time I do something like that, I remind myself, hey I can do it too and even though I may struggle with it I don’t back down from it.”
| Date Taken: | 07.07.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 07.07.2022 10:30 |
| Story ID: | 424496 |
| Location: | FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 308 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Quiet strength: Valley Forge Cadet finds voice in leadership, by Sarah Windmueller, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
