Cadet Brigadier General title returns to Lane
By Nicole Jacobs
On Sept.17th 2010, Dolores Santillan,Div. 179, anxiously waited in her front row seat as Major General Anderson from the Air Force spoke at the podium. Although the room was packed with JROTC instructors and proud parents from all over the city, it was completely silent. When the general announced Santillan’s name as this year’s Cadet Brigadier General for Chicago’s JROTC program, her parents proudly pinned the medal on their daughter.
According to Colonel Kochheiser, it has been three years since the last Lane student was awarded top cadet in the city.
This year’s competition included 43 schools and 12,000 students. In order to try out for the city core staff, students had to first take a written test. Then they proceeded on to a panel interview where the judges narrowed it down to two finalists. The other finalist was Jai Hillard of Whitney Young who was appointed executive officer.
“It was nerve-wracking to hear the position,but I didn’t do anything alone. The staff was behind me,” said Santillan.
Santillan and three other Lane students competing for city corps jobs attended a two week long summer camp in June at St. John’s Military Academy in Wisconsin. At the camp, students were tested to see how they handled themselves with their staff and other cadets throughout Chicago to see who would potentially make a good Cadet Brigadier General.
“Dolores’ people skills and personality were what made the difference at the camp,” said Kochheiser.
“Books and interviews are nice, but the proof is in the actions, and that is where she pulled away.”
Santillan was under a lot of pressure, but Lane has more students on the city corps staff than any other school. Kochheiser attended the camp as well to support his students.
“I tell them that if they focus and apply themselves, they can ‘take over the world,’” said Kochheiser.
“It feels good because I know we have a really good program here in Chicago.”
As a Cadet Brigadier General,Santillan represents all the cadets in the city at VIP events, serves as a judge at city-wide drill meets, and coordinates with the District Army instructor for guidance. Santillan also has many responsibilities handling city-wide functions such as service learning projects like the military ball.
Along with Kochheiser, many of Santillan’s fellow JROTC classmates support her as the Cadet Brigadier General.
“Santillan knows what she’s doing,” said Ahmad Abushalbak, Div. 385. “I’ve always had a feeling that she had a good chunk of leadership in her. I’m glad to be here at Lane where the highest ranking Cadet goes. It makes me even more proud of Lane and encourages me to try harder to achieve my goals.”
“I was at the camp with her,” said Mehvish Maghribi, Div. 253. “She was a very good leader at the camp and ran it well alongside her subordinates there.”
“As a JROTC student she is very committed and is good at what she does,” said Isamar Velazquez, Div. 172. “She is also a hard-worker and she also gets good grades.”
Although Santillan did not receive any scholarship awards, she considers achieving top cadet in the city as one of her biggest accomplishments.
“The military has always been my direction even before I joined JROTC,” said Santillan. “I want to go to college first though and after that I would enter the Army as an officer.”
Santillan has two cousins in the military. The eldest is in the National Guard Reserve and the other joined the Navy to become an intelligence officer.
“Their actions and accomplishments influenced me to join the [military] program, said Santillan. “However, it has been in my head since I was five.”
Coming into Lane, Santillan never thought that she would make it this far.
“I could not have done it without the help of LTC Kochheiser who has always been there to answer any questions, no matter how dumb they were,” said Santillan.
Santillan demonstrates that hard work and dedication are two important
factors in pursuing something that you love.
