Braving the relentless chill of the morning, 25 NJROTC cadets from the top 1% of cadets in the Area 21 range, a region stretching from San Diego to Garden Grove, trembled in their planks, cores aching from exhaustion and bruised egos as they counted the seconds until they would finally be allowed to collapse. Among them, Julia Cheon (12) held her position, distinguished from the other cadets only by her blue shirt–a sharp contrast to their yellow ones.
This was Leadership Academy (LA): a five-day ROTC training program at Ramona High School from June 17-21 for the top 1% of cadets in the Area 21 range.
Last year, Cheon attended Leadership Academy as a cadet herself along with three other Westview cadets, donning the yellow shirt and learning about leadership in action from seasoned Marines.
“It was a lot more daunting and scary [back then] because I didn’t know what to expect,” she said. “I was [learning amongst] the best of other schools, and I wanted to represent Westview in its glory. [This experience] helped lay a strong foundation of leadership that I applied this year as well.”
This year, Cheon returned to Leadership Academy, no longer a cadet, but as a blueshirt: an LA alumna chosen by their Senior Naval Science Instructor (SNSI) to return and guide one of the six cadet platoons. Cheon was assigned to preside over Sixth Platoon, leading them through the days. No longer skittish, she returned with bolstered confidence, determined to make a difference.
“When I went [back] to [be a] blueshirt, I had more of a mindset of, ‘I’m not here for myself,’” she said. “I’m here to assist other people.”
Waking up at 4:30 a.m. every morning in a gym shared with the cadets, Cheon and the other blueshirts would prepare cadet activities for the day. After rousing her platoon at 5 a.m., she would lead them to an open field, where they do their morning physical training (PT) before breakfast. During their PT, she took it upon herself to participate in the exercises.
“It was optional [for blueshirts], but I wanted to join in,” she said. “I didn’t want [my platoon] to think there was a big power difference between me and them. I’m just a year older than them.”
As she assumed the same plank stance as her cadets, Cheon shouted words of affirmation to drown out the harsh words of the drill sergeants and onlooking blueshirts.
“[While you are in the plank,] there are people yelling at you, saying, ‘Is that really all you got? That’s pathetic,’” she said. “I could tell it was breaking down people, just ruining their confidence. So what I would do is look to the side and say, ‘No, you are more than that. You are here for a reason. Out of all the people are your school, you were chosen to come here.’”
Before they slept, Cheon and her female platoon members spent time building camaraderie without the military hierarchy.
“We would group up and talk like regular people,” she said. “One of the girls looked at me and said, ‘Sometimes, I forgot that you’re also just a regular teenage girl.’ I think that was so important because they saw me as someone on a pedestal, but I didn’t want them to think that. I wanted them to think that we are the same; I just have a different [role].”
Between all the time spent together and the extra effort Cheon put in to connect with the cadets, Cheon said her platoon grew closer and more supportive of each other.
“I was there to guide them, but it was definitely the cadets that made a community,” she said. “I felt like that community was just very caring of each other. Guys and girls started to work together and started cheering each other on during PT. These are also people who have never met in their lives. They come from different schools, but then they started being supportive of each other. That was heartwarming to see.”
At the end of LA, Cheon’s platoon won the Honor Platoon Award, distinguishing them as having the best scores in PT, personal inspection (adhering to all NJROTC uniform standards), the academic test, and marching drills.
As cheers erupted among Sixth Platoon’s cadets, Cheon stood in unabashed pride.
“It was the small things that I was thinking about when I was standing there in uniform at the [LA] graduation,” she said. “[It was] our silent victories, our motivational sayings during PT, the cheers that we got on Field Day.”
This year, Cheon said she feels invigorated to assume her role as Westview NJROTC’s Executive Officer.
“I want my way of leadership to be more like empathy and showing kindness, even if that means it’s not going to follow the military style of yelling at people,” she said. “It’s important that they see me as not threatening. I think that talking on a personal level and understanding what [people] need helps more. [This year,] I want to be a friend who will guide them.”
