MANSFIELD — Maya Francis is living out one of her dreams–and earning accolades in the process.
The 2008 Mansfield Senior graduate is serving in the U.S. Navy and has been named Sailor of the Year three times during her four-year Navy career.
Francis graduated high school at age 16 (she was able to skip a grade) and attended The Ohio State Mansfield before transferring to the University of Cincinnati.
“I had an idea that I was going to enlist, but I had to wait until I was old enough,” said Francis, who’s now 25 years old.
She enlisted at the age of 20. During basic training, she was offered the opportunity to become a hospital corpsman.
“They kind of go off what they need at the time that you’re joining and you pick from whatever they have,” she said.
For Francis, that was a position in Navy Medicine.
Most recently, Francis worked at the Naval Postgraduate Dental School (NPDS) in Bethesda, Maryland. As supervisor of the comprehensive dentistry department, she assisted in the management of 16 enlisted military and civilian personnel to support 18 staff and resident dental officers.
“That was fun,” she said of her experience. “I enjoyed serving the patients and being able to change their smiles.”
She also supported the White House Medical Unit, providing care to the nation’s leaders, their families and staff.
“I felt pretty comfortable doing that because really, patients are patients,” she said.
Francis is now undergoing eight weeks of training in Jacksonville, North Carolina and will eventually be transferred to a Marine Corps base, 2nd Dental Battalion Camp Lejeune. There she will continue serving as a hospital corpsman.
“Up until now, I’ve been serving specifically with Navy units, so here (during training) we learn basically how to serve with the Marine Corps,” she said.
Her mother, Deanna West-Torrence, has been an inspiration to Francis, who used to spend many nights volunteering in her mother’s office.
“I grew up watching her work hard for everything that she’s done,” she said.
Francis plans on serving in the Navy for as long as they’ll have her.
“Hopefully I’ll do a full 20 years, retire and then go back to work,” she said. “If I can get to a point where they’ll let me serve 30 years, then I’ll probably still be here.”
