PAGE –Amaya Curley graduated from Page High School just 26 weeks ago, and 12 days ago, she graduated from the U.S. Navy’s eight-week Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, Illinois.

She went to boot camp the day after the 17th anniversary of 9/11, said Megan Marks, Amaya’s mother, in an interview with the Lake Powell Chronicle. Curley graduated from the RTC Nov. 9.

“She’s going to be in the Great Lakes area for the next several months finishing up her ‘A School,’” Marks said about her 18-year-old sailor, a Diné youngster who played Sand Devil softball, “and after that, she’ll get assigned somewhere else. She’s not sure where yet, but she’ll get shipped out in March (2019).”

A School is a short stint following boot camp that provides what sailors need to succeed in their first tour, according to the U.S. Navy.

Marks says she and her family attended Curley’s graduation at the Naval Station Great Lakes, where roughly 38,000 young men and women from across the country every year graduate from boot camp and raise their hands and pledge to serve the country with honor, courage, and commitment.

“We just came back (Nov. 13),” said Marks, who stopped by the Chronicle office to share her daughter’s story.

Marks said her daughter’s graduation was exciting and “awesome” to see because it took place on the weekend of Veterans Day, which made the ceremony extra special.

“It was very moving,” Marks said, “and just how they set everything up. I don’t know how to describe it, you (had to have) been there and experience it. Me and my husband and our two kids went up there. After the graduation, we had extended family come, and spent two days with her.”

Because Curley is occupied full-time, she could not give a comment. Though on Nov. 9 she posted on her Facebook page that she is “baaack from boot camp!!” receiving 160 likes and 21 comments, all of which are from family and friends who congratulated the young sailor.

Pauline Fowler wrote, “Omgosh grand-daughter We’re all so proud of you! Hugs to you.”

Marks says her daughter is an outgoing youngster who played sports – volleyball, basketball, among others – in high school.

“She did very good in school, she was very well-known, very outgoing and bubbly,” Marks said of her daughter. “Always smiling. One thing she kept getting into (trouble) for was … smiling.”

“That was a joke: Don’t smile, don’t smile,” Marks laughed. “Yeah, she was a very good kid. She just wants to be everywhere and do everything. The main (reason) she wanted to (join) the military was to travel and get a head start on her education and figure out what she wants to be.”

Marks says Curley is currently training for electrical maintenance, a field she wants to explore before making a final decision later in her life.

“She wants to go into the medical field too,” Marks added. “She wants to go to a big university (upon her return home).”

It was Curley’s father, a U.S. Marine veteran, who inspired her to join the U.S. military, said Marks.

“After seeing (the Navy recruit graduation), my son was very impressed,” Marks added. “He’s only 12, but he’s in awe. Amaya has talked to him saying she wants him to (join the military too).”

“Our Navy is the world’s most adaptable fighting force in history,” according to the Navy website. “When we send new sailors to the fleet, we want to ensure they are prepared to meet the demands of an ever-changing battlespace. To do this, we unify our efforts and train recruits in a way that best integrates them into the organization of commands in the fleet.”