At her mother’s request, Franklin Military Academy senior Chyann Mealy enrolled in the physically and academically rigorous program about four years ago. She was hesitant, but after her first summer of drills, she decided to give it her all. “I wanted to try something different, I wanted a challenge and so Franklin gave me a challenge,” Mealy said. “It gave me a challenge academically and physically and mentally.”
After her freshman year, Mealy and her fellow cadets had to go through a process where they were required to run military drills and memorize the same drills and other protocols. By the end of the process, she was within the top three of her 67-cadet class. After that, she knew her mother’s encouragement to attend Franklin was a step in the right direction. “I realized that yes, I can do this and there is no point in me leaving after I went through all of this, and especially when I wound up being in the top three,” she said. “After my freshman year I realized I can actually handle it because not a lot of kids made it through Franklin.” Now, in her senior year, Mealy is the Battalion Executive Officer, which puts her in charge of the everyday operations at Franklin.
It hasn’t been an easy road to success for Mealy. She said she knows her circumstances aren’t necessarily favorable to success, but she still perseveres. Mealy said she used to be ashamed of where she lived in the northern part of Richmond, but her English teacher junior year, Lechecia Caine, helped her realize where she came from wasn’t a factor in her success. “(Caine is) from the same neighborhood,” Mealy said. “It shouldn’t matter where I live or my circumstances. Now I’m not really ashamed of where I live.”
She’ll be attending James Madison University on the Centennial scholarship which will pay for her education in full. She is still choosing between majoring in preventive medicine and nursing but knows she eventually wants to be a health care professional for the United States Armed Forces.
To help her prepare and to have a better idea of what her future career will be like, Mealy participates in the Medical College of Virginia (MCV) Project ACEe program. The program introduces high school students to different aspects of health care professions through workshops, a mentoring program that pairs high schoolers with medical students and special programs, like visiting pathology labs.
In addition to all the activities that are part of Project ACEe, Mealy takes dual enrollment classes at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College. She’s completed a psychology course and biology courses. “I just take a whole lot of challenging courses … I like a challenge,” Mealy said.
And while Mealy takes on many challenges, her school counselor, Ruby Jackson said in a recommendation letter she is successful at everything she takes on. “Always, in her work, Cadet Mealy is consistent, dedicated and passionate, enthusiastic, cheerful and a pleasure to work with,” Jackson wrote. “She has incredible creative energies and a refreshing temperament … At Franklin, we expect big things from our students, and Cadet Mealy has fulfilled many of our expectations.”
