Born in Panama, Cadet Maylis Yepez Burac was raised in New London, Connecticut by a first-generation American single mother. “The city of New London is a community enriched by its diversity,” Burac says. “The people of New London are uplifting, giving, and accepting of people from all backgrounds. I believe it is important to instill a high sensitivity in our youth, to preserve the essence of our small community.”
Back in New London after an eventful BEYA Conference in Washington, D.C. this February, Burac said the chance of networking at the meeting, which celebrates science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) was enlightening.
“Attending a BEYA conference is important because there is a community of people who care and continually invest in success in the STEM field,” she said.
Burac’s favorite highlight was the Stars & Stripes Dinner, where she met senior personnel of the Coast Guard.
“Their insights on the military and STEM careers were invaluable, and I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from them,” she said.
The Stars & Stripes Dinner at the BEYA STEM Conference is one of the nation’s largest events honoring active and retired African-American admirals, generals, and members of the federal Senior Executive Service. Each year the featured service of the Stars & Stripes event alternates between the Air Force, Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and the Coast Guard and is determined on a rotating basis.
The U.S. Coast Guard was the featured service of the 2019 Stars & Stripes, which left Burac in awe after meeting the most senior officers of the service. Ahead of the event, Burac had butterflies in her stomach. She was to receive the Student Military Leadership award and was questioning whether or not she was truly deserving of the honor. She expressed this concern to a friend.
“The night before the awards ceremony, my friend, a sophomore at the University of Connecticut, gave me the answers I needed,” Burac said. “He showed me the video of the song ‘His Pain II’ by BJ the Chicago Kid. The chorus says, ‘I don’t know why he keeps blessing me, I don’t know why, I don’t know why, I don’t know why,’ and it reminded me that my community, my village, and God were investing in me,” she said.
Burac is a third-class cadet at the Coast Guard Academy, where she is majoring in electrical engineering. She is a member of Alpha Lambda Delta, a certified national honor society that recognizes academic excellence in the first year at a college or university. Currently, Burac is working on a Diversity Peer Educator qualification and one of her mentors on campus is Commander Royce W. James, who has a doctorate in plasma physics and has served as the principal investigator (PI) of the Coast Guard Academy Plasma Lab since 2008.
“We’ve had a mentor-mentee relationship since before my cadet career began,” Burac says. “He was candid about the challenges I would face as a cadet, and a minority, and has been instrumental for my leadership development.”
In the plasma physics laboratory, Burac works alongside CDR James, other physics faculty, and cadets who are conducting graduate-level research.
“We measure the plasma’s ‘vital signs’ as we call it—temperature and density,” she says. “My contribution is to develop a graphical user interface in which we can remotely control the physical operations of the laboratory creating the plasma, and store, analyze, and represent key data.”
As a member of the Chase Hall Security Team, Burac is part of the continual assessment of campus safety. She is a certified member of Cadets Against Sexual Assault and has applied for a cadet peer support job that would allow her to serve as an emotional resource for her peers.
“The position would grant me full confidentiality and free me from being a mandated reporter during sessions,” she says. Burac also recently passed her emergency medical technician national certification assessments. When she’s not working, she enjoys musicals, cheerleading, and the campus concert band.
Burac hopes to become a cutterman, an elite Coast Guard badge of honor that requires years of sea time and commitment.
“At the Coast Guard Academy, they instill in you the need to be a leader,” Burac says. “To me, that means demonstrating the discipline to do what is expected of you to the highest degree, and having the moral courage to do it honestly, while uplifting those around you.”
While a student at the Science and Technology Magnet High School of Southeastern Connecticut, Burac joined a learning program that opened doors to new horizons. The magnet school’s after-school program provides students an opportunity to experience hands-on STEM, enriching classroom instruction from the regular school day.
Through the program, Burac met cadets from the academy, who were pursuing academic majors that prepare the future officers to defend against cyberattacks, protect information and systems, and design, operate, and repair ships and boats. She also met CDR James, who co-founded the Coast Guard Academy’s Science Partnership for
Innovation in Learning (Project SPIL).
“The mission of the (SPIL) project is in the name,” Burac said. “It is meant to foster a partnership between two academic institutions in the same community that is driven by STEM.”
Inspired by the vision, Burac took the lead in the development of a video that earned kudos from the magnet school
and academy.
“The video was fun to make,” Burac recalls. “That day, classmates from Science and Technology Magnet High School of Southeastern Connecticut and myself attended classes at the academy and got to mingle with cadets and faculty. This video captured our amazing experience and gave us an outlet to provide feedback to the program.”
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