When he was little, junior Cole Akin’s dream was to fly for the Navy. Although his aspirations have changed slightly since then, joining the United States Air Force Auxiliary Cadet Program allowed him the opportunity to learn about aerospace while wearing a uniform.

Inspired by a friend from his hometown in Nebraska, Akin joined Squadron 10, the Palo Alto unit of the Civil Air Patrol, when he moved to California. Every Tuesday evening, Akin spends two hours at the West Valley Flying Club training with his fellow cadets of ages 13 to 21. Training is split up into four parts — physical training, character development, aerospace education and emergency services.

Outside of these weekly meetings, cadets have the opportunity to sign up for weekend events. Recently, Akin participated in the Ultimate Bear & Wings Challenge, an annual aerospace competition between every California squadron that requires the cadets to apply knowledge from their weekly training.

“You take a 50-question quiz with your team about aerospace, and you all work on it together,” he said. “You do emergency services where you have to treat patients, take a quiz for physical education, swim across the pond, run a bunch and do pull-ups.”

Some skills he’s learned from the program, such as memorizing procedures or learning emergency responses, have translated into other aspects of his life, including academics.

“I’ve learned a lot of study skills because you have to do a lot of memorization (as a cadet),” he said. “I think character development has probably been the biggest (takeaway) for me. You learn about everyday situations and you learn how to navigate them, and I think that’s really important for us to (know about).”

The cadet program has inspired Akin to pursue a military career. He hopes to enroll in the United States Naval Academy and later transfer to the Marine Corps. Although cadet ranks don’t translate into the military, the program provides a close community for Akin to learn skills similar to those needed in the Marine Corps.

“My favorite part is that you get to meet a lot of really cool people, and I’ve made a lot of great friends,” he said. “It’s nice to progress with them and become a better person and leader overall. You have people guiding you every step of the way.”

After a long school week, junior Airealana Williams takes a 15-minute ride down to Moffett Field and spends a part of almost every weekend training with the United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps.

At the end of 2022, Williams approached the program with a little hesitance. However, it quickly became one of her greatest passions.

“It was so difficult,” she said. “I felt like I needed a challenge in my life at that time, and it really challenged me, so I kind of just stuck with it.”

As a part of USNSCC, Williams not only dedicates her weekends to training, but also spends summer and winter breaks immersed in the program. Last year, she chose to do recruit training in Hawaii, which was a two-week introduction to the program that helped Williams appreciate the importance of teamwork and allowed her to make long-lasting friendships with others in the training.

“I’ve been able to make so many connections with people,” she said. “I still have friends in Hawaii. I haven’t been over there in a while, but I always have a place there now, which is great.”

However, a downside to the large time commitment of the program is the difficulty of managing academics while meeting the demanding hours of being a cadet.

“Sometimes I have to prioritize the cadets over school and that really sucks, but you have to sacrifice some things and some weekends,” she said.

However, Williams herself doesn’t intend to join the Navy. While USCNCC is one of her passions, it is also a stepping stone in her life, and as she grows as a person, she is open to more options for her future career.

“If I go to college and I still do military training, they pay for your college,” she said. “I’m doing that because my goal is to do plastic surgery or go into medicine. I didn’t know that I could do both military and medical training simultaneously, which I think is really cool.”

In the meantime, she looks forward to making more memories during training while working hard to achieve her goals.

“The community is amazing (for both) building relationships with people and learning new things,” she said. “I think the program really teaches you how to be patient and respectful. It can be really stressful, but I think it’s the most important for me to remember that I am doing this for a reason, and it’s really impactful in my life.”

Freshman Jazzy Mendoza aimed a sleek handgun in a tight grip as she concentrated on a target down the shooting range. Blocking out her surroundings, she pulled the trigger.

Over the summer, Mendoza participated in the Graduate City Police Academy — a four day long program based in Redwood City for students ages 13 to 17. Her family background in the police inspired Mendoza and her sister, freshman Nicole Mendoza, to apply.

“I have an aunt who’s currently a volunteer for the Redwood City Police  Department and two other family members in the cadet program for San Mateo,” she said. “I joined the program because my family members also joined when they were my age, so I thought it would be a great experience.”

Each day focused on a different discipline and were led by mentors such as firefighters, investigators, sheriffs and police captains. While she originally thought the officers leading the program would be strict and intimidating, their teaching style shaped Mendoza’s positive outlook on learning about the police force.

“They gave us lots of opportunities and they weren’t as strict as (teachers at) school,” she said. “We got to do a lot of hands-on projects, and that was what made most of us excited for the next day.”

Some of these projects included real-life scenarios that police officers encounter. For example, Mendoza toured the police station to listen to real 911 calls and learned how to use defensive weapons such as tasers and guns.

“It was super fun because we learned about drugs
and the K-9 (police dogs),” she said. “An investigator
also came in to teach us about crime scenes and it was
super cool to see real evidence and the tools they use.”

The SWAT training, which included push-ups, curl-
ups and pulling a 165-pound dummy, proved to be a challenge for Mendoza due to the intense physicality required.

“The training was the hardest thing for all of us, especially because there (were) 160-pound bodybuilding SWATs there,” she said. “It was like, ‘Wow, look at us compared to them — how could we do the same?’”

Coming out of the summer program with a positive experience, Mendoza entered the Redwood City Cadet program this school year.

“Compared to a summer program where you just stay in one place, in the cadet program, you actually get to go to the actual scene with the officers,” she said. “I think the program will give me a better perspective and understanding of what I want to do in the future.”