The Vanguard series highlights cadets of Virginia Military Institute who exemplify promise, perseverance, and the true spirit of leadership. While they may not be the top-ranking students or those in prestigious positions, these individuals' dedication, resilience, and growth embody the essence of being a VMI cadet. By sharing their stories, including the challenges they've faced and overcome, we shine a spotlight on the diverse paths to success at the Institute, proving that leadership and excellence come in many forms. 

LEXINGTON, Va. March 24, 2025 — Helping others is Alexis Gonzalez’ ’25 backbone. Anything she can do to help others,; she’s immediately on board. She plans on pursuing emergency management after graduating and going to paramedic school.  

“I do it for the people,” she said about being an emergency medical technician (EMT). “I have to be the calm in the storm. I have to do my job, but it's a Catch-22 because every time you do your job, somebody is having the worst day of their life. Being that calm in the storm for that person is a feeling that I can't even describe. I've seen some incredible things and some horrific things. I'm happy to say, I don't regret it one bit. It just gives me the opportunity to guide others getting into the field.”

The history major accidentally stumbled upon Virginia Military Institute. She admitted while searching for the University of Valley Forge, she ended up misspelling it and VMI popped up instead. It turned out to be the best mistake she’s made. 

"VMI was the only school I got in early decision, and I haven't looked back since,” Gonzalezs said. "My desire was to get out of Texas, so I was trying to go as far away as I could, and VMI was willing to give me an academic scholarship." 

She found the right fit in history. She loves learning about strategy, business history, military history, and constitutional history — which VMI has in spades. Her academics didn’t come without struggle, though.  

“I'm not an academic weapon,” she admitted. “I'm a very physical, practice, tactile person, like if I can touch it, good to go. Books ... can't read. I'm highly dyslexic, the words jumble. Learning how to in college was fun.” 

Her trick? Reading key parts of materials and gathering the overall sense of what is being studied. 

“I worked really, really hard. My academic advisor, I give him a lot of credit, because he taught me how to read a book, because you don't necessarily need to read all of it. You just need to read the key parts of it — the intro, the conclusion. That's what I kind of focus on. If I need to read a chapter, I'll skim it, and my brain will go from there.” 

She credits a class she took early on at VMI called Intro to Methods in helping her create her own system of learning. 

"It teaches you how to be a historian and read all those things you need to read and pick out the pieces that you actually need to focus on,” she explained. “That class kind of helped me solidify the rest of my academic career, because I literally transferred what I learned there and just put it to every other class and it worked. I worked really hard at it, and it didn't click until my 2nd Class year. My GPA started going up. Last semester, I had 3.4. I've never had a 3.4.”

Maj. Christopher Blunda, assistant professor in the Department of History and Gonzalez’ academic advisor, described her as a hardworking student and someone he could always count on coming prepared to class and willing to share her perspectives.  

"Her participation promoted an environment that was conducive to learning and was therefore quite beneficial to her fellow students,” he explained. “Her accomplishments in the classroom are, in my view, quite impressive given the extent of her numerous obligations and responsibilities.” 

She says she’s decent cadet who is active as a lieutenant for VMI’s cadet EMT and the president of the Cadet Equity Association (CEA). She said she likes being part of the community and participating. 

Apart from figuring out her learning style, Gonzalez said her writing has improved during her time at VMI. She credits the Writing Center for it. The biggest growth has been her confidence.  

“I want to say I've grown quite a bit just in my confidence level," she said. "I've grown together with my brother rats. Just learning your place in the system, growing, and becoming a part of the team.” 

Blunda said he and his colleagues view her with great respect.  

"In my view, she is among the most promising 1st Class cadets because of her attention to detail, ability to present well, and commitment to teamwork and service,” he said. “The qualities mentioned above make her stand out. There are a great number of good cadets at VMI, I consider Cadet Gonzalez among the best. She learns from her experiences and is able to apply that knowledge effectively. She is not the sort of person who ever needs to be told anything twice. Hers is a consistent pattern of improvement. My colleagues in history will certainly miss her after she graduates.” 

Laura Peters Shapiro
Communications & Marketing
VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE