Asiel Morales, center, poses for a photo with Camp Zama Youth Center staff at his 2024 Military Month of the Year achievement celebration there April 5. Asiel was selected as Camp Zama’s winner at the Japan-wide level of the Military Youth of the Year competition and a finalist at the Asia-wide level. (Noriko Kudo, U.S. Army Garrison Japan Public Affairs)
CAMP ZAMA, Japan – Asiel Morales fell short of being named the 2024 Military Youth of the Year, but what he learned about himself during the competition made the journey worth it, he said.
Asiel, 17, was selected as Camp Zama’s winner at the Japan-wide level of the competition. He then traveled to Iwakuni, Japan, earlier this year to compete against other winners from throughout Asia, eventually placing second in that region.
“The day of the competition was when I realized that I had come so far anyway,” Asiel, a junior at Zama Middle High School, said. “All I had to do was give it my all.”
The Boys and Girls Clubs of America puts on the annual competition to celebrate young people, ages 14 to 18, for their commitment to community service, academic success, and good character and citizenship, the organization’s website says. Applicants are required to write a series of essays on different topics, and the winners are selected from a pool of finalists at each level.
When he decided to enter the competition, Asiel wasn’t sure what to expect. But ultimately, he said, he had a message he wanted to convey to the peers of his generation, and his essays would be the best way to do that.
“I made a promise to myself that if given the opportunity, I would take it,” he said, “because I felt the skills I had acquired as a military child correlated with what the competition required of me and that I was suited for it.”
Knowing he was going to be competing against a field of exemplary teens was nerve-wracking at first, Asiel said, but that quickly changed after he met them. They all built each other up and made the competition feel more like a gathering of friends, he said.
“Through [this] experience, I learned that the fear of failure is the only thing keeping you from succeeding, and being surrounded by ambitious people tends to make you more ambitious and allows you to be authentic.”
The competition’s essay prompts asked the applicants to write about their experience as a military child. Asiel is an avid writer and said he approached each essay with honesty, calling it a “liberating force in being true to oneself and embracing one’s imperfections.”
Writing the essays and being part of the competition gave Asiel the opportunity to look back on his time as a military child. As someone who thrives on stability, the teen said dealing with frequent moves, new schools and having to make new friends can be challenging.
But Asiel prides himself on being raised with Army values and said his life has given him opportunities and experiences he couldn’t have gotten elsewhere.
“Being a military child, I learned early on that nothing lasts forever,” he said. “And in turn, I learned how to persevere and to be resilient.”
Asiel is trying to enjoy every moment as the end of his high school career approaches. He is in an executive position in his school’s Spanish club and hosted a Hispanic Heritage Month ceremony last year. He said he was extremely proud to represent and highlight his culture through the event.
He is also volunteering with the local chapter of the Boys and Girls of America and his school’s Keystone Club, which held a bake sale to raise funds for earthquake relief and hosted a bilateral cultural exchange event with Japanese students.
Whether giving back to his community or crafting essays for a competition, what drives Asiel is not the desire for recognition, he said. More than that, he hopes both his peers and the younger military children who will eventually be in his position make the most of the opportunities they have.
“Life is so fast-paced nowadays that the journey is ignored and not taken for what it is,” Asiel said. “I want to remind myself and other teens of my generation of [the importance of] taking advantage of the power of youth and the beauty of slowing down and noticing the small things in life.”
