Former Saint Stephen’s student Emiliano Concha-Toro returned to campus this October back in uniform (only, a different type of dress code.) After graduating in 2016, Emiliano went straight to Ranger school, where he spent around three months being pushed past mental and physical exhaustion. 

After his training at Westpoint, Emiliano entered the army as an officer and last week, he returned to Saint Stephen’s to discuss old memories, speak with Mr. Yanellis’s class, and tell stories about his career to inspire others. 

When I sat down to speak with Emiliano, he reminisced about his memories here at SSES. He shared his favorite story of being in Mrs. Grady’s advisory and sneaking a Christmas tree into her classroom through her window. He and two friends decorated the tree and waited patiently for Mrs. Grady to see their surprise. 

When asked about any favorite teachers or faculty members at SSES, Emiliano couldn’t pick. He explained how there wasn’t a single teacher at Saint Stephen’s who hadn’t had some sort of passion that influenced him in some way.

“The biggest realization I’ve had is that every teacher has impacted me in a way.” 

Concha-Toro used former English teacher Mrs. Eileen Price as an example, who had a huge passion for reading, and her example inspired him to pick up more books. He is now an avid reader. 

Despite having graduated, Emiliano shed some advice based on the question of what he would do differently if he were back in high school. Speaking from experience, Emiliano explained how he spent his time trying to feel important for the wrong reasons.  He emphasized the importance of being yourself and not worrying about social circles. 

“I realized I wasted time on things that I thought were important and that I forgot to enjoy being myself.”

After high school, Emiliano discovered his passion for learning and academics, which he claimed to not have appreciated enough in high school

Emiliano is now an intelligence officer for one of the subordinate Infantry Battalions in Washington, DC. One of the tasks of the battalion is to escort the President of the United States during all state and national crises. With this job, he is required to go through intelligence reports at all levels of classification and assess whether any of those reports will have effects on their mission. 

This type of career certainly isn’t easy and requires you to sacrifice and leave plenty behind. When Emiliano was asked as to why he chose such a hard job, he explained how in the army, no one cares about where you’re from or what you wear. The only thing people care about is your character, who you are as a person, and if you’re willing to be a team player. 

Emiliano described his experiences being in the army as an adventure every day that brings joy and unforgettable experiences to his life. From jumping out of a helicopter in Hawaii to camping out in the forest with his crew, Emiliano got to have experiences no regular civilian would have, and that is what keeps him going each day. 

“The fact that I can’t tell you anytime that my life’s been boring, is a good thing.”