Before she was crowned Miss USA in 2024, U.S. Army Lt. Alma Cooper has navigated every aspect of her life through her motto, “Demanding Excellence.”
On her campaign as Miss USA, Cooper has the unique opportunity to share her message with students across the nation.
From success at West Point United States Military Academy and Stanford University to across the stages of the Miss Universe pageant circuit, Cooper uses her reign as Miss USA to share the different opportunities the military can offer.
“Any way that I can continue to empower the youth and let them know opportunities that are out there, I’m always going to take advantage of that,” said Cooper.
Cooper opened her speech last week before hundreds of local students with how her family introduced her to the idea of having a career in the United States military.
“The greatest honor of my life is having raised my right hand and committed myself to service. I watched my dad do 24 years of service when I was growing up, and so I am always looking for that opportunity to serve,” said Lt. Cooper
Cooper’s journey to serving in the United States Military stemmed from her experience at an overnight camp at the military academy.
“In junior high, I got a letter in the mail from West Point. I watched some YouTube videos about it and found out that they were having a summer camp. When I decided that I would go to the camp my parents were so excited,” said Cooper.
Cooper left her home in Michigan to attend the summer camp in West Point, New York, where her experience solidified her interest in joining the United States military.
“When I FaceTimed my parents that first night, I told them I loved it and I didn’t wanna go anywhere else. I knew I’d walk out a better young woman than I walked in. I’d learn stuff about myself and I would be challenged,” said Cooper.
Being inspired by her father’s service and inspiration sparked by her summer at West Point, when it came time for Cooper to graduate from high school, she had a clearer idea of what path she would take.
“When I told my friends I knew I wanted to go to West Point, they said I was crazy. They said ‘There’s no way.’ They said, ‘We don’t think you can do it.’ I told them two words … watch me,” said Cooper.
Once at West Point, Cooper discovered her path to success was not going to be perfectly linear.
“I find myself at West Point later that fall. They rank every student in the class from one to one thousand every semester. I ranked at 333rd, which is pretty good, but I wanted to be great. I knew that if I was going to do this, I wanted to continue to achieve my full potential,” said Cooper.
This action of choosing to strive towards your personal goals is what Cooper calls “demanding excellence,” which she uses as a personal motto.
“If I asked you to define excellence for yourself, we’d all get a different answer. But that doesn’t mean that we aren’t capable of achieving our own definition of excellence. So, I thought about how I was doing in class. Was I spending enough time studying? What more could I do to demand that excellence,” said Cooper.
After demanding excellence in her schoolwork at West Point, Cooper saw her goals manifest from the hard work.
“I went from 333rd my first semester to 48th at the end of the year. I was the only female mathematical science major in my grade, and I had a systems engineering track that I pursued while also publishing research,” said Cooper.
When one success was achieved, Cooper would push her goalposts further to continue striving towards excellence.
“So, for me, when I thought about demanding excellence as a freshman, I thought about how I could keep raising my standards for excellence. That allowed me to not only grow myself, but when I raise my standards of excellence, I can raise your standards, and I can raise my community standards. It can have a ripple effect far beyond just myself,” said Cooper.
Cooper kept demanding excellence through her admittance at Stanford University where she currently attends in pursuit of a Masters in Data Science.
Cooper’s stop in Kerr County is one of many, as she makes her way across the country inspiring young women to seek excellence.