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LOS ANGELES - This summer, Jovanny Perez and three other
teenagers set out into the wilderness on a Tuesday with limited
supplies — supplies they knew would not last until Saturday. If they
didn't use their newly-acquired skills to purify water, build
shelter, make fire and find food, the next five days were going to
be miserable.
The group had paid attention during their
survival training, though, and the teens enjoyed a smooth, fun week,
as they told their mentor from the California Cadet Corps, who
visited them once a day to ensure they were safe.
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More than 200 California Cadet Corps members devoted part of their summer to supporting the Special Olympics World Games in the Los Angeles area, including moving athletes into their dorms at UCLA on July 24,
2015. (Photo by Brandon Honig, California National Guard)
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“I'd tell students to join [the Cadet Corps] first chance
you get,” said Perez, 15, who attends North Valley Military
Academy in Granada Hills. “The earlier the better, so you
get a chance to do all the cool things you can do in the
Cadet Corps, like the survival training and some other
things I won't have a chance to do.”
Perez aspires to
graduate from West Point one day, and the Cadet Corps is a
first step on that road. Run by the California Military
Department at high schools across the state, the Cadet Corps
is an educational and leadership-development program that
prepares students for college and the workforce. Cadets meet
daily to develop their skills, and they have educational
experiences and adventures like Perez's trip into the
wilderness about every two months.
“What it brings us
is responsibility and many other good things like having our
military courtesy and being respectful to our elders or even
people younger than us, even when we're not in uniform,”
said Luis Angel Miranda Magana, 14, of North Valley. “If you
see an elderly woman struggling with her groceries, go ahead
and help. It's like passing it forward: You get help from
one person, and you help out another, kind of like a chain.”
Magana and his fellow cadets from North Valley had the
opportunity to pass it forward for almost two weeks this
summer, volunteering their time to support the Special
Olympics World Games. They greeted athletes and delegates at
the airport, tagged and carried their luggage, and moved
them into their dorms at UCLA. Then they provided on-site
support for the athletic events at UCLA, delivering ice and
cold beverages, and tackling any other tasks they could find
to help out the athletes and the World Games.
Sgt.
Alfredo Ubau, of the California National Guard's 2668th
Transportation Company, who was also stationed at UCLA
during the World Games, said the cadre at the Cadet Corps
keep the students tight. He also said the cadets are great
kids who did an awesome job at UCLA. He even nominated two
cadets for a Certificate of Appreciation from the Military
Department.
“They really impressed me,” said Ubau,
who was part of a 500-person California Military Department
task force that supported the World Games. “I didn't have to
tell them anything, and they just did their job as good as
any motivated soldier, any adult – if not better.”
Jeff Carr, chief operating officer of the World Games
Organizing Committee, said he was very impressed by the
cadets' maturity and work ethic.
“Those kids were
fantastic,” he said. “They did an excellent job, and we
couldn't have done it without them.”
More than 200
cadets from several schools put in long hours during the
World Games, running errands in the hot Los Angeles sun day
after day while athletes played soccer, softball and other
fun sports all around them. And the cadets seemed all too
happy to serve.
“I really like doing things for other
people like we get to do in the Cadet Corps,” said Yahyra
Santizo, 14, of North Valley. “I love their reactions.”
Perez said the cadets' days at UCLA were tiring, but it
felt good to contribute, and it was fun to interact with the
athletes.
“The one thing that caught me the most is
how many of these countries don't really get along, but once
every couple of years, they can come together for a week or
more and play together,” he said. “It's very heartwarming to
see all the athletes get along, take pictures, and just talk
to them. All of them are really nice.”
By Brandon Honig, California National Guard
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2015
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