“The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision.”

The Rev. Theodore Martin Hesburgh, President Emeritus of Notre Dame University, once uttered those words, and they indeed ring true for many aspects of life, including military and athletic realms. Here at the Virginia Military Institute, one of the athletes to best embody that idea is women's soccer co-captain Celine Ziobro.

The Nevada native not only embodies this on the field, but has been noticed off, as the U.S. Air Force has offered her a prestigious pilot training slot. Ziobro becomes the third female cadet to be offered an Air Force pilot training slot, joining two other women's soccer athletes who earned the honor earlier this decade.

“I always knew I wanted to fly, ever since I was little. Even though I wasn't always certain of my career choice, I took one of the base visits during Field Training Exercises, and it opened my eyes that this was what I wanted to do. I have no doubt that being a pilot is what I want to go for,” offered Ziobro.

Ziobro's fascination with flying began as a small child, but the military has been a long-time influence on the senior's life as well.

“Many of the men in my family were, or currently are, in the Armed Forces. While one did get transferred to the Marine Corps, both my grandfathers were in the army. In fact, one of my grandfather's was a B-29 Pilot. My dad's in the Marines, and almost all of my uncles and cousins are in the Service. In fact, my cousin Conor Franklin, who is here at the Institute as well, also got a pilot slot in this round of selection,” said the senior.

With both influences, flying and the Armed Forces, meshed together, it was only natural that Ziobro would apply for a slot in pilot training.

The selection for Air Force Pilot Training involves a number of different measures, including a physical fitness test, the Air Force Officer Qualifying Test, a hand-eye coordination test, collegiate grades and performance in either field training or ROTC's version of boot camp. These measures are weighted, and combined into a cumulative score, the largest part of which is the class ranking, determined by a candidate's ROTC commander. Top scores are, obviously, preferred, and those with higher scores are selected first. Judging by the standards set in order to be chosen, one must obviously be well-rounded and skilled in order to be selected.

This meshes with VMI head coach Bryan Williams' comments on the selection, as he stated, “Being acknowledged by the Air Force as a Pilot candidate certainly reflects on the type of person Celine is.”

“I know it will be very hard, and I know they try to break you down and make it difficult, but I believe my experience here at VMI will help me,” said Ziobro.

Ziobro has also played a critical role on the soccer field, as the defender has not only served as a co-captain of this year's squad, but helped keep her team together during the building years of the program, as the squad built a foundation for this year's success.

“Celine has seen an evolution from a team that had been weak and technically poor before her arrival, to one that now handles and holds the ball very well,” stated Coach Williams. “She has helped with the technical part of the game and also has always been an asset because of her speed in a place that we have needed to use it.”

In her comments regarding the less-successful seasons, Ziobro shows the vision that helped propel her to her leadership position.

“We, as a program, just did not have the selection of girls to choose from during my earlier years here. It can be difficult to get girls to come to VMI, for obvious reasons, but I don't think we were a bad team. We just were a new team, and had a lot of lessons to learn,” offered the co-captain.

In fact, this year has been the year those lessons learned have shown through, as VMI has become an impact force in the Big South. As they prepare for their final road contest of the season, the Keydets are still in the running for the regular season conference title, and the team has already doubled its previous total Big South wins. VMI has won four conference games in 2008, after winning just two in the previous five years. The Ziobro-led defensive line has been a key cog in that improvement, as VMI has an impressive 1.15 goals-against average this season.

“We've made a great improvement this year, but it's been a long time coming. We've worked hard for a long time, and we always work together and pull through our struggles,” stated the team leader. “We are each other's family here.”

Ziobro was prompted to come to VMI, because, in her words, “I grew up on a Marine Corps base. Even though I was just a kid, and didn't know the in's and outs as much as I do know, I grew up breathing Marines and the military was just bred into me. This type of an environment fit me, without question.”

That decision and that breeding helped shape the VMI women's soccer program for some time to come. It is the very essence of leadership that you have to have vision, and it is Celine Ziobro's vision and foresight that has helped her make a lasting impact on VMI and the Keydet women's soccer program. It is also that vision and foresight that will continue to help her as she becomes a leader in her future career, that of Air Force pilot.