Senior Spotlight: Sydney Sears

Being a leader takes time, it takes effort, and it takes determination. That is exactly what Sydney Sears has been doing her whole life.

Sears, a senior at Dimond High School, is best known for her extreme devotion to the Dimond JROTC(Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps) program.

Sears comes from a military family. Her dad is retired Air Force and her sister is trying to join the military. The military genes run through her body.

Sears said, “I put in about 43 hours a week just into ROTC, and that’s not including all the school work I get on top of that. It is really hard to have a life outside of JROTC, but all of my friends are in the program.”

Ever since she saw that JROTC challenged her, she was hooked.

Going into sophomore year, she was determined to push herself to the limits. This is due to her sister being her commander. Sibling rivalry was in full affect.

By the end of sophomore year, she proved herself so much that she got a high-ranking position going into her junior year.

Sears said, “My biggest accomplishment that I’m the most proud of is making XO [Executive Officer] my junior year. Usually that position is awarded to a senior, but I was high enough qualified to get the position.”

Sears later said, “Being BC [Battalion Commander] is such a huge honor. My sister her senior year was also BC, and I just wanted to continue the tradition. It’s not an easy job dealing with all of the cadets, but it is very rewarding to have everyone look up to me.”

Ed Sears is Sears’ father and has supported her throughout her four years in the JROTC program.

Ed Sears said, “Sydney pushes herself day in and day out. Nobody sees behind the scenes. No one sees all the effort and time she puts into the program. She goes everyday during triathlon season at 5:30 a.m. just for practice. Then she goes to all of her classes.”

Sears will be leaving Dimond soon and has some advice for future freshmen.

“Do today what others aren’t, so you can do tomorrow what others can’t. Find what makes you happy and fight for it. High school gets hard, but at the end of the tunnel, you will have created so many memories to look back on,” Sears said.

Savannah Sears, her older sister, who graduated from Dimond in 2015, said, “Sydney pushed me harder than anyone else in the program. I didn’t want my younger sister to beat me. She is definitely a great leader and will do great as she goes through with her life after high school.”  

Sears wants to continue her education after high school, but does not know in what field yet.

Sears said, “I didn’t want to join JROTC at first, but my sister and boyfriend were both in it, so I later decided to join. It was the best decision I have made in high school. I met all of my friends and joined a brotherhood. We all laugh, smile and joke around with each other. It feels like a family.”