USU Psychology Student Realizes 7-year Dream of Becoming Military Officer
By Ian Neligh
Army 1st Lt. Ciera Nicholson doesn’t know the meaning of quit.
For seven years, she worked to overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges to see her lifelong dream come true — serving in the United States military. Today, Nicholson is a second-year student at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) in the Medical and Clinical Psychology (MPS) program after almost a decade of trying, and proving the age-old adage “slow and steady wins the race”.
If at first, you don’t succeed…
Nicholson was born on Fort Riley, Kan., and grew up as a military brat living everywhere from
Germany to West Virginia. For as long as she can remember, Nicholson says, she wanted to serve in uniform.
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| Army 1st Lt. Ciera Nicholson tried for seven years to enlist in the military before she was cleared for entry. Today, Nicholson is pursuing her goal of becoming a military clinical psychologist. (Photo credit: Courtesy of Army 1st Lt. Ciera Nicholson) |
Nicholson says she couldn’t wait to enlist and even before graduating from high school, she went to the Army recruiter. Unfortunately, she was denied because of her fitness level and poor vision.
Determined, she got in shape but couldn’t find anyone who could provide her with corrective surgery with the astigmatisms that she had. She then tried to get into the Army National Guard and was turned down yet again.
“It was extremely difficult,” Nicholson says. “But the blessing in disguise was that I basically killed time by going to college. I was like ‘I’m going to get into the military one day, but until then I suppose I should go to school.’”
Nicholson began going to school at Frostburg State University in Maryland, then transferred to West Virginia University to do their Air Force ROTC program.
“By the time I transferred to WVU I had been denied waivers for entry to service by the Army and National Guard five times,” she says. “I was hopeful that if I modeled my passion and dedication as an ROTC cadet then maybe the Air Force would accept me.”
She did two years of ROTC but ultimately couldn’t accept the commission because she didn’t pass the physical with her vision.
“Which, of course, was another huge disappointment — but another opportunity came out of that,” Nicholson says. “I was pretty upset. I was in my ROTC uniform crying outside on campus. And the director of the Ronald E. McNair program walked by.”
Ronald Erwin McNair was a NASA astronaut and physicist who died during the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986. The McNair Scholars Program was started to increase the attainment of PhD degrees in underrepresented segments of society.
“It’s a great opportunity for first-generation minority students to be better represented in postgraduate programs,” Nicholson says. “I certainly wasn’t thinking about more school, but she convinced me to apply to McNair. One door closed; what was I going to do now?”
Nicholson applied and was accepted into the prestigious academic program and ended up earning her degree in sport and exercise psychology. Nicholson says in that field people generally think about how to optimize the performance of elite athletes.
“But in my mind, the number one athlete, number one elite performer is the warfighter,” Nicholson says. “My professors saw that ‘we know you can’t wear the uniform — but there are plenty of opportunities for you in performance enhancement in the military.’”
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| Army 1st Lt. Ciera Nicholson at the United States Army Officer Candidate School. Nicholson is a student in USU's Clinical Psychology doctoral program. (Photo credit: Courtesy of Army 1st Lt. Ciera Nicholson) |
Try, try again
Nicholson graduated with a masters degree in 2013 and became a Master Resilience Trainer and Performance Enhancement Expert for the Army shortly afterward.
About a year into the position, she finally found a doctor willing to perform LASIK for her. She’d been looking nonstop for a doctor who could perform the operation for seven years.
“I would have dropped everything to finally join the Army,” Nicholson says.
The operation was a success, and she immediately joined the Army National Guard, but found it wasn’t quite enough for her.
“Both of my careers were fulfilling, but I knew I wanted to wear the uniform full time and mental health was something that I had become extremely passionate about, particularly for the elite performer, the American warfighter,” Nicholson says, adding in 2017 she applied again for the opportunity to go active duty.
“I was just holding my breath for something else to go wrong. ‘They’re going to find a reason, there’s always a reason,’” Nicholson told herself.
Everything turned out fine and Nicholson was accepted into the U.S. Army. She says she felt like she was on top of the world. Despite losing half of her time-in-grade as a commissioned officer in order to transfer, she believed it was well worth it.
“I can barely put it into words. It’s like winning the Super Bowl for me — it was that big of an accomplishment — and I’m really into football,” Nicholson jokes.
The next hiccup came not long afterward when she shattered her knee during a field training accident. Nicholson was given the option to either receive a medical discharge or wait for a knee transplant.
“And, obviously, somebody who has waited this long to put on the uniform is not about to get out of the military over a shattered knee,” Nicholson says.
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| Through persistence and hard work, USU Clinical Psychology program student Army 1st Lt. Ciera Nicholson realized her dream of becoming a U.S. Army officer. (Photo credit: Ian Neligh, USU) |
Six months later, the transplant came, and the surgery was a success. Even though she’s still in physical therapy for it, Nicholson sees it as just another hurdle in realizing her dream to become a “73 Bravo” or military clinical psychologist.
“I want to serve and improve the overall well-being for soldiers, I just can’t wait to get back out there with troops and start doing my part in reducing the impact of the stigma that’s associated with mental health,” Nicholson says. “I hope one day it is just as normal and encouraged to come to see your behavioral health officer as it is to see your physical therapist or athletic trainer.”
Today she attends classes at USU, is raising her one-year-old twins with her wife, and couldn’t be happier. Nicholson says she’s inspired and driven to know that as a first-generation student and African American female officer she’s opening doors behind her.
“It’s important to not only be brave enough and be vulnerable enough to go see a mental health provider but to be able to have that opportunity to sit down with someone who looks like you — words can’t describe it. I am working really hard to ensure I am part of that change,” Nicholson says.
It’s clear that whatever interference comes up in the future, Nicholson is ready to tackle it in her pursuit to help others.
“This program is like a hidden gem and I take so much pride in being here and feel so lucky that when I sit in my classes, I still can’t believe that I’m here,” Nicholson says. “I feel very blessed to be a woman of color going through this program, to be a future Army psychologist, and to be there for other people.”
