(WXYZ) — She's a U.S. Army officer, a student at Stanford and Miss USA, just to name a few. At 22 years old, Michigan native and Afro-Latina Alma Cooper is inspiring young minorities across the country with her story of grit and determination.
Cooper is inspiring others at a young age. On top of being the first active-duty soldier with the Miss USA title, Cooper said she's most proud of where she comes from.
“My mom was a migrant worker growing up in the beet fields of Idaho. At the age of six, she was hoeing beets and she did that all the way up and through high school and then earned her way to a division 1 track scholarship at Idaho State University," Cooper said.
Her mother's humble beginnings, as well as her own, pushed to achieve excellence every day.
“For me, I always want to fill her footsteps and continue to lead a path for other young women behind me," she said.
Cooper said her father, who is now retired from the Army, is equally as inspiring.
“I remember when I was younger I saw my dad in a uniform and I never really saw women in the military," she said. "Women who were both feminine and also pursuing a male-dominated field.”
Her family helped pave the way for her success, and now, she's hoping she can do the same for others through her acts of service.
This week, she sat down to read books to children at the Michigan Science Center in Detroit.
"Any time I can be of service to anyone, regardless of what time of the year it is, I want to help other people out there be inspired to hopefully see a piece of themselves in my story," Cooper said.
“Any advice for people your age people younger, what’s your advice to them?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’d say never be the first person to say no to yourself. There’s always a way, you know, if you have a will, if you have a desire, if you have a passion, whether it be to serve others or pursue a personal childhood dream of your own, there’s always a way to do it and to hopefully along the way you can inspire some other people," Cooper said.
