Sunday, July 6, 2008

Cover Story

Achanzar: RP's 1st female Westpointer
By Gigie A. Agtay

THE first Filipina to graduate from the US Military Academy (USMA) in Westpoint, New York, USA is a Dabawenya.

Christy Isis Achanzar, 27, humbly smiles when asked about her achievement, in an interview at their home in Ma-a, Davao City after coming home from her graduation two weeks ago.

Standing 5'2" with a lean body and charming smile, a power forward in college's basketball team, Christy was born in Davao City on September 28, 1981. She's the fourth of six children of a Catholic lay minister (Asuncion) and a government employee (Ermine).

Achanzar along with Zamboangueño Mario Feliciano are among the 970 members of the USMA's 2008 graduating class, and among the 17 foreign nationals from 14 countries.

The 16,000-acre campus located 50 miles north of New York City on the Hudson River has been Isis' second home for four years.

Becoming a plebe at the Philippine Military (PMA) in 2004 before going to Westpoint, USMA's training was no longer new to Christy.

"There's even more liberty at Westpoint where cadettes can sport long hair and wear make up. Upperclass men are privileged to have a TV a telephone, computer and an Internet in their rooms," Christy said.

"Unlike sa PMA na maaga ang taps, sa Westpoint, 11:30 p.m. ang taps. By 12 midnight pa ang lights off and 5:20 a.m. ang reveille," she added.

Homesickness, she said, was something that was not hard to overcome because Westpoint cadets are given foster parents or sponsors.

"I'm lucky that my foster mother -- Gloria Goda -- is a Filipina. She's married to Col. Goda, a Japanese national in the US military service. Kaya wala akong na miss na pagkaing Pinoy. She would often invite me for lunch or dinner at their house inside the school's compound," she said.

Aside from the academics, physical and military training, USMA is like a university where you get to choose a major study. Christy chose Electrical Engineering as her major, not to mention the Electronics and Communications Engineering degree she obtained in college.

For Christy, her plebehood at PMA was a dream come true but her graduation from USMA was God's will.

It was God's will indeed complemented by Christy's remarkable talent, ambition and determination to survive.

She survived a special training on ground assault in Korea where they were able to experience the de-militarized zone (DMZ) as exposure.

She earned the Superintendent's Award for Achievement with a gold wreath insignia early this year. The award was presented to the top 20 percent of cadets who excelled in academic, military and physical programs.

She is a member of the Westpoint Catholic Choir that performed two hymns during Pope Benedict XVI's recent visit to the US.

Christy's group also won in the world level IT engineering design at Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies 2008 Soldier Design Competition at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on April 17.

Christy takes pride in saying that Westpoint retains the Soldier Design Competition trophy, which they have had for three of the five years of the competition. Its goal is to generate new products and systems that will help the modern Soldiers both on and off the battlefield.

Christy said if she would have to live her life again, she would still go through the same path including her Westpoint training.

Independence was what Westpoint taught her foremost. It was where she weaved and created dreams that would later come true -- serve and influence the military organization on a positive direction.

She is looking forward to finally joining the PMA's Tactical Group after a series of courtesy calls in Manila but there's still something that she sees doing -- that is being in a Light Armour unit.

For 2nd Lieutenant Christy Isis Achanzar, there's nothing to lose if you give an opportunity a try, and work for it.

"Kung ginusto mo, 'wag palampasin." And it proved true to Christy, the country's first female Westpointer.

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