By Caroline Farrell
Maria Evans has grown up an “army brat”. She lived in West Point, New York and later moved to Cornwall. Anyone who knows Maria knows that she is a hard-working student and a motivated person. As a child, Maria dreamed big dreams. Although her father and grandfather both attended the United States Military Academy, graduating in 1964 and 1987 respectively, growing up, Maria longed to attend Stanford University. None of Maria’s family or friends pictured her as a cadet, not even herself. Having grown up on Post, West Point has always been a huge part of her life. Maria has cheered from the sidelines of Army football games for as long as she can remember, enjoying the game and admiring the cheerleaders. Her surprising commitment to West Point was not influenced by the fact that attending would make her the third generation. The school of her choice became apparent when she caught herself smiling uncontrollably at just the thought of West Point. Maria faces the question, “why West Point?” often. And her response is straightforward: ”I wanted to go to West Point because I wanted to better myself in every aspect, physically, mentally, and character-wise. West Point is invested and cares about every person. I wanted to be a part of something greater than myself.”
Maria arrived in the summer of 2019 for BEAST training, a six-week long training that teaches cadets how to act, speak, and present themselves in a soldierly manner. Moreover, incoming cadets learn military tactics, the basic use of weapons, and important skills such as land navigation. For Maria, BEAST was the transformation from civilian to trained cadet. When she arrived, she was bright-eyed and had a lot to learn, but waking up in the mornings was tough. Maria stated that it wasn’t only the early mornings that were difficult. As she explains, “I never knew what to expect for the day, and the unknown scares me”.
“Days are slow and weeks are fast,” she said as she described her days of training.
After enduring the intensive training, Maria is confident that she would definitely not transfer schools. She has no regrets about attending USMA.
Another childhood dream of hers came true in August: she tried out and made the West Point cheerleading team, a division one school. Juggling rigorous academics and an intense sport all at once is challenging. Maria’s day never ends between practice and homework; she is always busy. When you are on a D1 team at West Point you are called a “core squad athlete”. Some students feel that athletes receive special privileges because they get to skip certain “plebe duties” due to their packed schedules, but Maria thinks that at the end of the day, all cadets are experiencing the same level of rigor. When asked whether there is a difference in treatment between men and women, Maria was clear: “it is not as bad as it used to be when they first started integrating young women into the corps. I hear old stories from female graduates about how they were hazed and looked down on. I would definitely say that there are a lot more guys here that want to support the females. Sometimes people might not hear what we have to say, or it might feel that way, but they are definitely working on being better”.
Maria wakes up at 5:30 every morning and does plebe duties such as cleaning the bathrooms and taking out the trash, until mandatory breakfast. Afterwards, she has classes and later attends practice. Maria found that it was not hard to make new friends because, “everyone here is going through the same struggles. It’s a completely new environment and everyone bonds from their experiences right away”. Academically, math gives her the hardest time and she is pursuing life sciences as a major. Her future is a mystery. As of now, she plans on getting out after her time is up, however, it is quite possible that her mind could change. Maria has a strong support team, but if she had to choose one main supporter it would be her grandfather. Dan Evans bleeds West Point, and Maria can’t remember him not wearing khakis and a West Point polo. He is the beginning of the lineage of Evans graduates, and he has supported Maria from the very start.
Most students might assume that going to West Point would mean missing out on the “normal” college experience, but not Maria. She feels that she is often too preoccupied to even think about it, and she still gets weekends off to hangout with her friends, just like she would at a typical college. Overall, Maria is excelling at USMA and wouldn’t have it any other way.
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