Air Force Academy Cadet First Class Cindy Nieves, who comes
from a military family, calls the academy "a great leadership laboratory."
Photo by Rudi Williams
(Click photo for screen-resolution image); high-resolution image available.
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Nieves, a native of Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, said she'd always been around the
military with her father in the Air Force and her stepfather in the Navy. She
is one of four Hispanic women military-academy cadets honored as up-and-coming
leaders in the Hispanic community, during the recently completed National
Latina Symposium here.
A senior cadet major majoring in foreign areas studies of Latin America, Nieves
is a graduate of Mount Carmel High School in San Diego. She said being a
military brat took her to many places she would never have gone otherwise.
"At first, I didn't like it because I didn't appreciate moving around and
didn't like it for what it's really worth," said Nieves, the council secretary
for the AF Academy's class of 2005. "But my mom said, 'Hey, I think this is
something you could do -- go to the Air Force Academy.' I did some research on
it and realized the opportunities that it offers. And I felt I was up to the
challenge."
Noting that she's "always up for a challenge," Nieves said she's very proud to
be attending the academy. She is a member of the academy's Wings of Blue
parachute team and has competed at collegiate, regional and national levels.
"I believe the academy is a great leadership laboratory," she said. "And it
brings lots of new opportunities into the lives of the cadets. It's an amazing
opportunity that we should all take advantage of."
A member of the squadron training staff for the past three fall semesters,
Nieves is a squadron training officer this fall. After graduating, Nieves hopes
to become an intelligence officer and eventually study law to become a judge
advocate.
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