First FilAm woman West Pointer

**awing** · April 30th, 2007 10:15 PM

[SIZE=2]Erin Grace Begonia: First FilAm woman West Pointer[/SIZE]

On May 26, a Filipino couple will proudly witness their eldest daughter Erin Grace Begonia, 22, commissioned as second lieutenant to the US Military Academy at West Point, New York.

Erin is one of over 900 USMA Class of 2007 who will be joining “The Long Gray Line," which was how USMA graduates are collectively known because of the color of cadet uniforms and the unbroken line of West Point graduates.

The Manila-born Erin may have acquired US citizenship, but this 5-foot-7 tall lady proudly carries the distinction of being the first Filipino-American woman to hurdle four years of rigorous military, academic and athletic training at the United States’ oldest military academy in New York.

USMA, established in 1802, opened its doors to women cadets only in 1975. It had its first woman graduate in 1980.

Erin was born in the Philippines and moved to California, USA when she was 10 months old. Her Filipino parents and younger sister Annika, currently live in Bellflower, California where she grew up.

Her father, Richen Padua Begonia, was born and raised in Quezon City and mother, Caridad Feliciano Begonia, grew up in Gagalangin, Tondo, Manila.

Erin has never been back to the Philippines in 22 years. But she is proudly a Filipino. “Erin loves all Filipino food, except the exotic ones. Her favorites are pancit and lumpia," said her father.

“Being close to her family and friends is probably the Filipino trait that is instilled in Erin," Mr. Begonia said.

Erin majored in Systems Management at West Point. “I hope to work with a successful business and help manage the company," Erin said in an e-mail to GMANews.TV.

But after graduation, she will be going back to the USMA Preparatory School in Ft. Monmouth, New Jersey to be an Athletic Intern for the women’s basketball team.

“I will help coach the team and the girls who will be promoting to West Point the following year," Erin said. “After that, I will be attending Basic Officer Leader Course (BOLC) II and III for more military training before I head to my unit. I will not find out where I will be going until about mid-October."

“Erin has always been athletic," said her father, a senior accounting liaison at Geneon Entertainment (USA), Inc. Mr. Begonia said he left the Philippines at age 19 with his parents. His wife followed him to California after five years.

Basketball star

“Basketball is her passion, and that’s what kept her mind from the academic pressure at West Point," he said in an interview via electronic mail.

Erin was a basketball star in California before she got into West Point in 2003 by some sort of a blessing in disguise. She became known for her remarkable performance as point guard of the girl’s varsity basketball at Bishop Amat Memorial High School in La Puente, California in all of four years in secondary school.

She was part of the team that won its first California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) championship for the school.

Erin also played for the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball team called Southern California Basketball Club that gave her the opportunity to travel all over America and to play in competitive basketball tournaments.

She was one of 100 national high school players nominated to the first-ever McDonald’s All-American girls team in 2002, inducted into Bishop Amat’s “Hall of Fame," rated among School Sports top players in the Los Angeles area as senior, and invited to the 2000 Nike West Region Observation Camp.

She was a Street & Smith magazine regional all-American in 2001 and one of the top players to come out of the Los Angeles area.

She excelled not just in athletics but also in academics. She holds a long list of distinction in basketball, and still managed to be in the National Honor Society being a four-time Academic Honor Roll honoree.

With her exposure, prestigious universities such as the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the USMA showed interest in recruiting her for membership in their basketball teams.

In an article in July 2005 on Times Herald-Record in New York, Erin said she “never envisioned (to be in) military service."

In her senior year in high school though, Erin had a serious knee injury. She went up for a rebound and got shoved from behind. She slammed knee first onto the court. She tore her posterior cruciate ligament, the connective tissue in the back of her knee. That was in March 2001 while paying for an AAU team.

“I was looked at by UCLA and other southern California schools, and that was a big blow," Erin recalled. “But Army was the one school that kept their interest in me (after the knee injury) and gave me a chance to go to the Prep School to recover and rehab."

“It was tough because UCLA was my first choice, but Army is a great opportunity and it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity," Erin said. “It’s a great academic school and it guarantees me a good job after I graduate, so it’s a big thing."

West Point experience

Erin said she first heard of West Point when she was in junior high school when she received her first letter from the USMA. “Thereafter, the Army Women’s Basketball team continued to stay in contact with me and they seemed very interested in me and eager for me to attend the academy.

“I took my official visit to West Point at the beginning of my senior year and during that visit I got to know the basketball team and what the academy was all about. I had meetings with the Superintendent and other important officials and they really exemplified how much West Point fitted my interests and personality," Erin said.

And that was how her West Point experience began.

USMA is renowned as a historic and distinguished military academy, and a leading, progressive institution of higher education. Former President Fidel Ramos is one of its famous graduates from the Philippines.

Sherri Abbey-Nowatzki, coach of the Army’s women’s basketball team, described Erin as “a phenomenal player."

Erin first attended the USMA Preparatory School in Ft. Monmouth, New Jersey for one year to enable her to recover from injury prior to admission at West Point in New York.

It was at the Preparatory School, Erin said, where she learned the basics of the military ways, the academics and athletic aspect.

Coming of age

“This was the best year of my life; it was my coming of age. It was my first year living independently and away from my family," Erin said. “Everyone has to learn how to grow up sooner or later, and this was my time. I met some of my best friends here; we experienced the same things together here and over the years," she said, recalling her experience at USMAPS.

After a year, in July 2003, it was Reception Day at West Point.

She described her time at Beast Barracks as “quite an experience" although nothing surprised her anymore when she got in “since I had already been through the yelling and discipline at the Prep School."

“I had already learned how to avoid getting yelled at and my strategy was to lay low, be quiet, be motivated when I needed to be, and amplify my knowledge," Erin said. “It was also crucial to show that I was physically fit. I don’t think I would have adapted without the friends I made at the Prep School or the determination I possessed to get through this challenge."

Another knee injury

But then, she was barely on her first week of her plebe (freshman) year at the academy when Erin had a more devastating knee injury that required her posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) reconstructed.

The injury put Erin at risk of being dismissed from West Point. It was an uncommon knee injury. When the PCL is injured, patients may have problems with knee instability.

“I injured it during basketball practice and the doctors told me that I won’t be able to play basketball again," Erin said. “This news devastated me because basketball is a big part of my life and I don’t think I would have completed all four years at West Point without it," she added.

“Basketball gave me an opportunity each day to get away from the hardships at West Point. It allowed me to do what I love to do for a couple of hours each day," she said.

The surgery left Erin with a big, long scar on the side of her right knee. It took her more than a year to recover and prove to everyone who doubted her capability that she could play again.

**awing** · April 30th, 2007 10:16 PM

cont...

Hard work

“I came to this point by working hard everyday with my athletic trainer with the goal to rebuild the muscles that were weak and to regain the status of holding my knee together when doing physical activities," she said.

“I continued the rest of my career at West Point by working hard at every part of the system – academics, military, and basketball – never losing my determination. Each year became a little bit easier than the last," Erin said.

She gave due credits to her family, friends and the USMA people for helping her hurdle the difficulties in all four years of her stay there.

“I feel a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction, a phenomenon even, to have been able to prove doctors wrong and be told that I wouldn’t be able to play again," Erin said.

“I am fortunate to have had such a good basketball experience in the Army and I proved that I could get through the challenging academics," she proudly declared. “It demonstrates how I can handle different tasks at once and get through very difficult times."

According to her, West Point prepared her to be a responsible person and it gave her the stepping stone to become successful in life, be it in the military or not.

In 2008, Christy Isis “Ice" Achanzar, 24, will be the first woman born and raised in the Philippines to graduate at West Point.

Born in Davao City, Achanzar first entered the Philippine Military Academy in Baguio City after graduating completing a bachelor’s degree in electronics and communications at the University of the Immaculate Conception in Davao.

Because of superb education and leadership experience, West Point graduates historically have been sought for high-level civilian and military leadership positions.

Among its graduates were two U.S. Presidents, several ambassadors, state governors, legislators, judges, cabinet members, educators, astronauts, engineers, and corporate executives.

Today, West Point continues to provide hundreds of young men and women the unique opportunity to develop physically, ethically, and intellectually while building a foundation for an exciting, challenging, and rewarding career as an Army officer in the service of our nation.

– Tita C. Valderama, GMANews.TV

**gearspeed** · May 1st, 2007 05:56 PM

Napanood ko nga yan sa GMA News.Ang galing niya ah.Congrats.

**fearless** · May 1st, 2007 09:24 PM

ako din, napanood ko din yan kanina sa news, ang husay niya at napakagaling.

iba talaga ang pinoy

**Chip** · May 1st, 2007 09:33 PM

shes got some big guns, wouldnt want to get on her bad side hehe

**evs_13** · May 3rd, 2007 07:27 AM

thats my girl!!!

**XTO** · May 3rd, 2007 08:49 AM

yup, me narinig nga ako kagabi sa 24 oras na westpointer na babae.
buti na lang... kala ko nag shoplift na naman eh

congratulations! taas na naman pride ng mga pinoy (incl utols sa Navy)

sa US.

**lolo pepe** · May 3rd, 2007 09:05 AM

sige at kumuha ka ng experience diyan sa abroad at kung gusto mong tumakbong politician...ikakampanya kita.

at least me credibility ka pa compared dito sa mga senatorial candidates ngayun...

EDIT: pakonvert ka muna uli ng Pilipino citizenship bago manganpanya...baka ka ma technical...hehehe...