Mothers Day

When my son was very young my husband asked me to look up information on New York Military Academy. He had heard Donald Trump graduated from NYMA and he wanted our son to attend school there. I found out it was located about an hour away from New York City. I gave him the information, realizing that it might mean our son might go to a boarding school and be separated from us on a daily basis in middle or high school.

When I began studying for the foreign service written exam, and later when I attended graduate school, I shared my keen interest in American History with my children, and my son began reading stories about Gen. George Washington. A general at my graduation suggested he read about more current generals, and he continued to read about Gen. Marshal. My son realized how important in society the military had been -- including the plan by Gen. Marshal to help rebuild Europe after WWII.

A few years ago, I decided to bring him to see the graduation ceremonies at West Point Military Academy. A very friendly young boy, he met one of the graduating cadets who allowed him to try on his hat. I explained to my son this was a great honor, because the young man had earned the right to wear his uniform.

The summer came, and my son attended for one week summer camp at NYMA. He learned navigation skills, military map reading, hiked, and made a friend in Maj. Torelli. Although we visited other academies, my son had a sense of loyalty for NYMA from his experiences that summer and he wanted to return as a full-time student. All year that was all he talked about. He proudly wore the NYMA t-shirt he received from camp.

For one year, in preparation for his application, he became more active in sports. He applied and was accepted at NYMA in September 2008. When I saw the smile on his face upon passing his initial tests to become a cadet I knew we had made the right decision to send him to boarding school at NYMA.

Throughout his two years he has learned to be more self-assured, more responsible. He is way ahead because he has had to learn to rely more and more on himself. But his learning curve, like other cadets who will have to leave, will be permanently altered, if NYMA suspends operations. While they are too young to know it yet, I am sure the entire corp will wonder someday what their life would have been like had they remained at NYMA.

Today is Mother's Day. It is a bittersweet day for me. You see what I loved about NYMA was embodied in the picture, on nyma's website, of a mother receiving flowers from her son. I would later learn that this happens on Mother's Day in a lovely ceremony for the leadership of the corp. Today, May 9th, 2010, the mothers of the leadership of the corp will miss getting flowers from their sons in this public ceremony because the event was cancelled due to lack of funds. It is a memory to cherish they will not have at NYMA, and chances are nor will I.

The qualities that NYMA possesses have tangible and intangible value. There is tangible value in the real estate that NYMA sits on, but the higher value is at serious risk of getting lost right now -- it is in the group of administrators especially Maj. Coverdale and Capt. Watts, in the TAC officers, especially Sgt. Brock, in the JROTC Program and Master Sgt. Bailey, in the teachers -- too many to name but I will mention Ms. Morhous and Maj. Morningfire because for me to leave them out would be inexcusable-- who care for my son as if he is their son too. I must stop here, because I will have to mention almost every person who works on the campus -- from the tailor, to the mess hall crew, to the business office. What a lovely group of people who have called NYMA their home and will now have to be dispersed! It is too sad for words!

But it is most sad for the Juniors who were poised to accept their earned leadership roles at NYMA, after listening, and learning, and doing the right thing -- they will not have a corp to help groom if things continue on the current path. And, there is so little time to make a difference. Soon, when the revenue stream has been halted there will be no going back. Cadets will need to register at another school for September and deposits will hold them unless an arrangement is made to refund their deposits if NYMA wins the battle to stay open. Teachers must grudgingly look for employment (and housing) somewhere else, and the entire orchestra of people at NYMA must separate.

Senior cadets are right now trying to pay attention to their studies as their school is under siege, with calls from interested real estate parties coming in. They must try to stay focused at a time when in their gut they probably realize that they would like nothing more but to contribute their energies to the fight to keep their alma mater open. As adults we must take up the fight for them now. For as they graduate from NYMA there is a distinct chance that they will be saying goodbye forever to the place where they called home -- their first home away from home in their lives. And it feels like a bittersweet victory. In just a few short weeks NYMA, as they know it, could disappear forever.

Doreen Denice Syed,
Parent of Cadet Ali Syed, 2014
Secretary of the Parents Auxiliary,
New York Military Academy