Page 19 - MidWeek - Oct 13, 2021

OCTOBER 13, 2021 MIDWEEK 1724
Before she grew into a confident, battle-tested coach who helps others conquer their stress de- mons, Debra Lewis was a fresh-faced cadet fighting to overcome her own anxieties.
On her second day at West Point, Lewis “about had a coronary” after realizing she had to complete a 2-mile run. To her dismay, the mettle-testing exercise was to be performed over hilly terrain while she and her classmates ran in formation, with planned drills sprin- kled in along the path to further exhaust the participants’ muscles.
In Iraq, Col. Debra Lewis hands a bag of soccer balls to the headmistress of an all-girls school, which Lewis and her team built.
PHOTO COURTESY DEBRA LEWIS
Despite her background as a strong swimmer and competitive horse rider, Lewis understood her body well enough to know she probably would not make it. In her mind, she was almost sure she’d upchuck her last meal at the one- and-a-half-mile marker — if she even got that far. Moreover, as part of the first group of women allowed to enter the prestigious military academy in 1976, she and others faced both internal and external pressure to prove they could serve their country well alongside men.
“When we first started out on the run, I had two other women in my forma- tion,” recalls Lewis. “The first woman fell out within the first half mile — and my heart started going crazy!”
Suffice to say, the increasing palpi- tations in her chest and the growing consternation in her head were very, very real.
On the brink of bowing out of the run herself, Lewis happened to glance over at the unit’s only other remaining female. To her surprise, the cadet was a picture of serenity. She even wore a smile as she easily kept pace with the men.
Emboldened by her classmate’s calm visage, a now determined Lewis made a
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