Our people: Aiming high

My name is James Burroughes. I am a senior at Clovis High School. I am the corps commander of the CHS Air Force Junior ROTC, the community emergency response team (CERT) commander, FEMA Section VI Youth Representative, Ignite Nation (Go Cats!) mentor, member of the National Honor Society and a runner for the CHS cross country team. I love the outdoors and helping people (over 400+ service hours), am an Eagle scout and certified private pilot. My hobbies include the following: shooting, fixing cars, flying, volunteering in the community, running, working out and spending time with friends and family. My dream and end goal is to serve my country as an officer in the United States military, and hopefully one day go to space and to set the example that whatever we put our minds to, it can be done.

What do you hope your life will be like in 10 years?

In 10 years I hope to have graduated from one of the United States service academies, have a degree in aerospace engineering and be a pilot for the military or NASA. I hope to have volunteered in the community, participated actively in a church and, maybe, changed a few lives, and be sharing my life with someone special.

What's an accomplishment you're proud of?

My proudest accomplishment was completing my private pilot's course through the first class ever sent to Air Force JROTC flight school at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia in the summer of 2018. The USAF program selected 120 cadets out of the pool of 10,000 and I was fortunate enough to be selected. It was one of the most challenging things I had ever done, but being put in a class with some of the smartest and most dedicated individuals from around the country in my age group allowed me the opportunity to perform to the best of my ability while building some relationships that will last a lifetime. Being that far away from my hometown forced me to try new things, go even further out of my shell and help those around me to do the best they could because even though we competed to get there, it was more about finishing the course as a team, not alone.

Favorite quote?

"Implementing 'Extreme Ownership' requires checking your ego and operating with a high degree of humility. Admitting mistakes, taking ownership and developing a plan to overcome challenges are integral to any successful team." - Jocko Willink

This quote by Jocko Willink, a former Navy Seal and author of the book "Extreme Ownership," is one of my favorite quotes because it demonstrates leadership, integrity, and just a good plan for life. In my life, I have found that all the problems result from a lack of ownership. Ownership means to me that yes you may be in a hard place, had hard beginnings, been through the ringer, but if you want your dreams, your goals and a life that will be satisfying, then you will accept all that you are, the good, the bad, the beautiful and the ugly and press forward. Beacause in order to win anything, we must first win the battle raging in our own hearts so we may be true in our beliefs. Once we have conqoured our demons, we need to admit when we are wrong, make a plan to strengthen our weak points and renovate our strong ones.

How would you like to be remembered?

I was first asked this question for my interview to be the commander of the JROTC unit. I have thought about this periodically because it is a good question to ask ourselves. I would like to be remembered that despite all the mistakes, all the failures, all the opportunities and triumphs of my life, that I put others before me. That I lived my corps values of service before self and contributed to a cause much larger than myself. I want to be remembered as making a difference in someone's life, even if it is just one person, because if everyone positively impacted a person's life, just one, than all these problems we see everyday, would not seem so bad, so huge and so overpowering.

Tell us about a time you cried.

Winning medals was never really something that I was very good at growing up. I was one of those kids that would try hard, but never won a medal - more of a jack of all trades type of guy. It was not until this year, my senior year, that I won a medal. It was my third race, ever. It was at NMMI and I was racing in the JV race. I know, I know, a senior racing JV? But this was my first year ever running or competing in anything like this. My heart was much stronger than my body, and as a result, I was pretty fast and at this third race, I won the 15th place medal. It was the last place to receive a medal but I did not care, it was the first time in my life that after exerting so much sweat, pain, and those demons in my head telling me to give up, that I had competed and won. It taught me a valuable lesson, that you get what you put in, and it's pretty hard not to learn this lesson when you either have a medal around your neck, or not. After this, I raced in just two more races, both of which I raced and placed fifth. I had been out for a month, barely running, and doing as much work as I could placed on rehab, but when those races came, I unlaced my boot brace, taped my legs up, and dug deep because like I said, you get what you put in, and I was not about to show the world that some tendonitis and shin splints were going to stop me from putting my best foot forward.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Growing up, I wanted to be a military doctor, military pilot, military scientist, military engineer ... you get the idea. I have loved America and the military for as long as I can remember. I used to play army with all my Legos and little green army men. Always thinking of new ways they would be battling, one trying to gain the upper hand, counting their losses and restocking to go at it again. It was the idea that I would be serving something so much bigger than myself that I fell in love with. My father was a 24-year career Air Force weapons guy, and I would come home from school to see him polishing his boots or working on some project. While those might not seem too exciting for everyone, it sure was for me.

What is your most prized possession?

My most prized possession would definitely be a pocket knife. Not really any specific one, but whatever one I have at the time. If it was not for this tool, I would not be where I am today because no matter what the situation was, I had my little swiss army knife ready to cut, pry, screw and finagle my way through the problem. It was my ability to solve problems with this little device that allowed me to gain respect, show my abilities and on several occasions, fix cars simply by using my knowledge gained from working with my dad and that little knife that made the difference between someone's bad day and someone's close call. Most of all, it got me into situations where I could make a difference in someone's day, whether it was cutting a bit of string or splicing wires, I got the opportunity to make a difference and to make life for them just that much easier.

- Compiled by Staff Writer Jamie Cushman