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Clear skies. Low 32F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..
Clear skies. Low 32F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.
Updated: December 7, 2024 @ 11:39 pm
Capt. Joshua David, an instructor at Fayetteville State University, attended Quyana Vann Leonard’s signing with the U.S. Air Force.
Quyana Vann Leonard signs her scholarship contract to attend Fayetteville State University and serve four years in the United States Air Force following graduation.
Quyana Vann Leonard
Quyana Vann Leonard
Capt. Joshua David, an instructor at Fayetteville State University, attended Quyana Vann Leonard’s signing with the U.S. Air Force.
Quyana Vann Leonard signs her scholarship contract to attend Fayetteville State University and serve four years in the United States Air Force following graduation.
Quyana Vann Leonard wanted to go to college after she graduated from Southern Wayne High School last year, but she didn’t want to be saddled with a lot of student loan debt.
Thanks to the United States Air Force, she doesn’t have to worry about that now.
The 18-year-old Mount Olive resident received a full four-year scholarship to college. In return for the scholarship, she had to commit to serving in the Air Force for four years after graduation.
Leonard chose Fayetteville State University to attend, where she will get her degree in business management/health care management. She started classes in August.
She found out about the scholarship from her Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps instructor, Col. George W. Shantz Jr., an Air Force retiree.
“The colonel called me the week after my birthday last July,” Leonard said. “I didn’t know if I wanted to take the scholarship or not. I literally cried to my mom because I didn’t know what to do.
“We prayed. I was like, ‘God, if this is what you want me to do, then you’ll find a way for it to come through.’ The next week, Colonel Shantz called and said we’re doing this, and I said OK.”
Leonard had to first apply and be accepted to a college of her choice.
Next, since she’ll be taking ROTC while at Fayetteville State University, she had a lot of medical forms to sign. She also had to take and pass a physical fitness test that consisted of pushups, situps and a mile and a half run.
“I had a practice fitness test and didn’t pass,” Leonard said. “I went back again the first of December and didn’t pass that one. They told me I could have lost my scholarship if I didn’t pass the physical fitness test.
“I went back later in December and was like, ‘I have to pass this.’ I put it in God’s hands. He gave me his strength, and I passed it.”
Leonard signed for her scholarship Dec. 23. When she found out she had the scholarship, she was nervous because she was committing to the next eight years of her life.
“It felt good now that I had a plan,” she said. “I really didn’t know before that what I wanted to do after high school. I didn’t know if I wanted to go straight to college or straight into the military.”
Leonard had a close friend of the family, Carl Groober, who was retired from the Air Force, and he — plus Leonard’s mother — pushed her to do JROTC at Southern Wayne High School.
“But I was like, ‘I’m not doing ROTC,’ ” she said. “But then I thought maybe I should give it a chance. So I did ROTC and I liked it. So I thought maybe the military would be a good career choice.”
Leonard has an uncle who was in the Army and another who was in the Marine Corps. And her cousin was in the Army and is now a traveling nurse.
The scholarship will cover all of her college expenses — tuition and fees, and also provide a stipend for other expenses.
“This is a huge achievement for a cadet and a very big deal for Ms. Vann Leonard and her family,” Shantz said. “Ms. Vann Leonard is one of the first Wayne County Public Schools graduates in over a decade to have received the Air Force scholarship.”
When she graduates from Fayetteville State University, Leonard will be commissioned a second lieutenant in the Air Force and begin her four-year commitment.
Leonard said God and her family were her support system through it all, including her mother, Pauline Leonard, brothers, Quimel and Quizekiel Leonard, aunt, Joyce Leonard, and other family members.
After spending four years in the Air Force, Leonard is not sure if she’ll put in even more years or get out. She eventually wants to open a retirement home.
But she’s looking forward to the adventures that await her both at college and in the Air Force.
Quyana Vann Leonard
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