Seaman Recruit Ashlyn Gonzalez, of Division 319, graduated as the top Sailor from Recruit Training Command and earned the Military Excellence Award, Oct. 6.

Gonzalez, 19, of Deltona, Florida, said she joined the Navy to make a better future for herself, gain life experience and proudly serve her country. She hopes to travel and learn skills in her goal of becoming a physical therapist. She was assigned the rating of hospital corpsman.

Prior to joining the Navy, Gonzalez graduated from Deltona High School, where she was actively involved in Junior ROTC and employed as a sales associate at Burlington Coat Factory.

The Navy Club of the United States Military Excellence Award is the top award presented to the No. 1 recruit of each graduating training group. The MEA is awarded to the recruit who best exemplifies the qualities of enthusiasm, devotion to duty, military bearing and teamwork. The award placed her at the pinnacle of today's newest Sailors, and she was awarded a flag letter of commendation.

"Finding out I won the MEA left me speechless," said Gonzalez. "I couldn't believe I actually reached the goal I had set at the very beginning of boot camp."

Gonzalez approached her training with a positive attitude and set her sights high.

"I think I earned this award for giving my best in everything I did while in boot camp, and not settling for the bare minimum in every evolution," said Gonzalez. "It gave me the pride of representing my division in a positive manner."

Gonzalez credited Recruit Division Commanders, Chief Aviation Electronics Technician Ryan Lester, Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Zachariah Christensen and Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Eric Hollins with motivating her to do her best.

"All of my RDCs, from day one, have been there by my side to help push me to do and be the best I possibly could," Gonzalez said, "telling me that's not the best I could do, and I could do better and seek improvement in all areas."

Christensen shared insights on his corpsman experience, providing guidance Gonzalez said will be beneficial when she joins the fleet.

"He gave me an outlook and a positive experience on becoming a corpsman and how much they are needed in the fleet," said Gonzalez. "It made me more proud to be a corpsman."

After graduation, she will attend a 19-week hospital corpsman "A" school in Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, where she will learn basic principles and techniques of patient care and first-aid procedures.

Boot camp is approximately eight weeks and all enlistees into the U.S. Navy begin their careers at the command. Training includes physical fitness, seamanship, firearms, firefighting and shipboard damage control, along with lessons in Navy heritage and core values, teamwork and discipline. About 30,000-40,000 recruits graduate annually from RTC and begin their Navy careers.

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For more news from Recruit Training Command, visit http://www.navy.mil/.