By Anthony Langlois, Air Cadet League of Canada
In early September, FSgt Samantha Keow of 333 Lord Beaverbrook Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron in Fredericton, NB, received an exciting letter from the Royal Canadian Legion. In it, she learned that she had been selected as the 2019 Royal Canadian Legion Air Cadet of the Year. To recognize this achievement, she has been invited by the Legion to participate in the National Remembrance Day Ceremony in Ottawa on 11 November. There, she will act as the representative of the Air Cadet League of Canada (ACL) by standing as one of the wreath-bearers for the Vice Regal Party. The Vice Regal Party consists of the Governor General, National Silver Cross Mother, the Prime Minister, Speaker of the House of Commons, Chief of the Defence Staff, Minister of Veterans Affairs and the Dominion President of The Royal Canadian Legion.
“Being able to go to Ottawa for Remembrance Day is being able to really understand the weight of everything that Canada has done, everything that Canada has lost but also to celebrate everything that Canada has gained. […] I will be able to bring back those experiences and bring back that appreciation for our sacrifices to people who don’t necessarily have that same opportunity.”
This recognition is one of many that FSgt Keow had the honour of receiving during her four years as an Air Cadet. In 2018, Samantha won the National Effective Speaking Competition. “Air Cadets have taught me so many different skills. It has given me different perspectives, organizational skills, leadership skills and communications skills. The one that is most prominent is the one that I learned from the Effective Speaking program. My presentation skills and my delivery of how I give speeches, the discussions in class are incomparable to what it was like before I joined the program.” She credits the impromptu speeches as what she benefitted from the most as they helped her think on the spot, focus her ideas and reflect on how to communicate in the most efficient way.
However her journey in the effective speaking program did not stop when she won the national competition. She brought back everything that she learned to her squadron to help the next generation of participants. She even says that her proudest moment as an Air Cadet was when one of the cadets she was coaching in effective speaking was chosen to go to the national competition.
In addition to her success with the Effective Speaking program, FSgt Keow had the incredible opportunity to take part in the International Air Cadet Exchange a few months ago. She was chosen to go to the Netherlands where she learned about Dutch history and culture but also about their aviation and aerospace industries. She was also able to connect with different cadets from around the world to learn how their cadet program works and how we can improve ours. Since she has only a year left as an Air Cadet, she said she wants to help the program as much as she can. She even shared with her commanding officer what she learned about recruitment and retention from other countries.
Samantha also mentioned that this exchange helped her grow as a person because it gave her a lot of exposure to different cultures and to a part of the world that is very distinct from ours. It gave her a broader understanding of life and her role as a global citizen. “Because of cadets, I can now see things in the bigger picture and that’s something I couldn’t do before.”
Besides her accomplishments as an Air Cadet, she has had two poems published in anthologies with the Poetry Institute of Canada. In Grade 9, she was part of the accelerated math curriculum which means she finished the Grade 9 math in one semester and finished Grade 11 math by the time she was in Grade 10. She has also played piano since she was seven years old and has her Grade 8 level with the Royal Conservatory of Music, 1st class honours.
Despite her academic successes, she still wanted to join the Air Cadet Program because of its first principal aim: to instill a sense of leadership and citizenship. “With the cadet program, I knew that it would be an important tool in discovering what sort of person I was and helping me to become the best version of myself as a leader, as a citizen that I could possibly be.”
Apart from aspiring to become a physician, FSgt Keow would like to eventually become a CIC officer, so that she can continue working with cadets. “I also have my glider wings and I hope in the near future I’ll also be able to achieve my familiarization rating so I can continue to show cadets the beauty of being in the air that enraptured me all those years ago when I first joined.”