Student Spotlight: Alessio Sincore, Army
Tell us a little about yourself.
My name is Alessio Sincore. I am from Gainesville, FL, and I was in the Army National Guard. I enlisted as a combat engineer in the Florida Army National Guard, but I am currently an Army ROTC cadet. I joined the greatest military in the world because I want to become the greatest man my bloodline has ever seen. One of my life goals is to raise a large, strong family—I hope to have 10 children one day. I knew the military would challenge me and shape the qualities I need to reach that vision: leadership, discipline, camaraderie, and resilience. There was no better place for me to start becoming the man I aspire to be than in the U.S. Army.
A unique fact about me is that I caught and ate a wild iguana from scratch. They really do taste like chicken with a sort of sushi texture, hence the name “chicken of the trees.” Also, I am working on building a live-gaming zombie attraction park using gel blasters and animatronics.
Did you have any college experience before attending your Warrior-Scholar Project boot camp? Why did you decide to apply?
Before attending Warrior-Scholar Project’s humanities academic boot camp at Williams College, I had taken some classes toward an associate’s degree at Santa Fe College. I decided to apply to WSP because I believed it would play a key role in helping me transition into higher education as I finish my associate’s degree. I also saw it as a great networking opportunity to meet other veterans and service members with similar goals.
What were you feeling going into the first day of your boot camp? Did you experience a shift in your confidence as the week progressed?
I felt a bit of imposter syndrome among my peers because I was the youngest and had the least amount of military experience. But that quickly faded once I realized how accepting and supportive everyone was. My peers and the fellows gave me positive feedback and made me feel that my contributions to the cohort mattered. For example, I was really shy during the initial discussions. I spoke with Emily Gustafson, one of the WSP fellows, who’s super awesome—and she helped me navigate public speaking in this environment. She encouraged me to just say what’s on my mind instead of overthinking and trying to find the perfect words. That advice helped me feel more confident and present in the moment.
By the final day of the course, I noticed a significant difference in my attitude and confidence toward academic challenges. I struggled with writing and had some doubts about my ability to write a compelling essay. But, when I got feedback from my tutors and writing professors that I had a solid argument and they noticed improvement in my writing, I got a big confidence boost that carried over into my confidence to speak in discussions.
What are some of the key takeaways from your boot camp experience? Is there one thing that stood out to you?
I realized that I have some good speed reading and note-taking skills. Utilizing different tools like audio readers and note-taking systems like the Cornell note-taking method helped me to absorb the material and extract the information I needed for my writings and discussions. The study groups before the lectures were also super helpful and something I am going to implement with my peers at my future university. These sessions helped to answer a lot of questions and sift out the really difficult questions that are good to prepare and ask the professor once class starts. I also think that the schedule is pretty accurate for a successful student who will not only get straight A’s in college but also get the most out of their college time by being fully engaged with the coursework, professors, and students.
However, the most important thing I learned during my boot camp was discovering what truly was going to keep me motivated to stay engaged with the readings and give full effort after a full day of classes, and that for me was family. I don’t have a family of my own, but seeing the other veterans and seeing how much effort they were putting into this program for their families made me want to take this very seriously. During the identity and community college success workshop, a lot of us talked about our stories, and I feel like the vulnerability and appreciation of myself during that time really helped me to keep going with my coursework.
How would you describe your overall experience?
It was definitely transformational. I went from feeling insecure about succeeding in a very competitive environment to being able to add valuable information to conversations. The fact that we were all veterans in this new environment also made it really fun and exciting.
Do you have any parting words?
Working with tutors who were current students at the university was super helpful because they were able to give you a really good sense of the type of students you would be interacting with at that college, and also give you a reference for the type of work that these universities expect these students to produce.