The value of education runs deep in
Maj. Melinda Zapata-Kalainoff's
veins.
The daughter of educators, Zapata-Kalainoff
was born and bred in Kingsville.
Her mother, a first generation
Mexican-American, was an elementary
school teacher and her father, a
second generation Mexican-American,
was a middle school teacher.
She has an aunt and an uncle who
were school superintendents and
numerous cousins who are educators.
Growing up, there was never a
question whether Zapata-Kalainoff
would go to college.
She went to school, produced good
grades and believed what her mentors
told her – "Don't limit yourself."
It's no surprise that Zapata-Kalainoff
holds a bachelor's degree in
chemical engineering from the
University of Notre Dame and two
master's degrees – one in
engineering management from the
University of Missouri at Rolla and
a second in chemistry from the
University of New Hampshire-Durham.
Soon she will begin working toward a
doctorate degree.
"Once you believe (in not limiting
yourself) and decide what you want
to do in your life, then you plan
out how to go about doing it, and
you get there," Zapata-Kalainoff
said.
With that no-holds-barred attitude,
Zapata-Kalainoff paid her way
through Notre Dame by earning a
four-year scholarship from the Army.
"It was a way to achieve my goals,"
Zapata-Kalainoff said.
The military was never a career she
considered, but the scholarship
served as a means to an end.
"But I loved (the Army so much after
I was commissioned) that I'm now
nine years over my five-year
obligation," she said.
For Zapata-Kalainoff the Army was a
place where the things she valued
came together.
As a company commander, she feels
that she's affected soldiers on an
important level.
After command and two years of
graduate school, Zapata-Kalainoff
was selected as an instructor at the
U.S. Military Academy, where she
taught chemical engineering.
"I brought my experience to (cadets)
in the classroom," she said.
"I developed the leaders who will
develop soldiers."
At the academy, Zapata-Kalainoff
became a significant contributor.
She developed a systematic method
used to solve equilibrium problems
in general chemistry – a method that
has now been used for three
consecutive years to better instruct
chemical engineering majors at the
academy.
The significance of her contribution
earned her an award from the
academy, which she will receive in
July.
Additionally, she was recognized for
her achievement by the Hispanic
Engineer National Achievement Awards
Conference and was presented with an
award in October 2007. She was
also named as their Role Model of
the Week in March.
Not only is she an engineer who
works on West Fort Hood with the
Operational Test Command as an
analyst, she's also a mother of two.
"There's never going to be a
question whether they will go to
college," Zapata-Kalainoff said of
her children, Sarah and Jacob.
"It doesn't need to be drilled into
them. I won't mandate it.
But, they will follow. That's
just what you do," Zapata-Kalainoff
said referring to the way in which
she learned to value education from
her family.