Classical grad sworn in as Mass Maritime trustee

LYNN – It was not lost on Maj. Marisol Chalas that the day she was sworn in as a Massachusetts Maritime Academy trustee was Sept. 11.”It’s bittersweet,” she said.And oddly eerie. The morning was sunny and blue much like that Tuesday 13 years ago when terrorists flew planes into the Twin Towers, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania, but by the time Chalas, a major in the U.S. Army Reserves, and her sisters appeared at the city clerk’s office, it was overcast.”It’s very gloomy, just like the day should be,” she said. “It was 13 years ago, but I still feel it.”It was an emotional day all around for Chalas and her sisters, Tricia Gasca and Jacquelin Chalas, all of whom choked up when Chalas took the oath of office, which was administered by Assistant City Clerk Janet Rowe.As a trustee, Chalas said her job will be to make decisions that largely affect the well-being of the students and the school.”But mostly the students,” she said.A graduate of Mass Maritime, Chalas, who is currently serving in Ontario, Canada, as a U.S. Army Reserve exchange officer, said she received an email last spring asking if she would consider becoming a trustee for her alma mater.”It’s a very big honor,” she said. “The fact that they were even considering me was huge.”Chalas said she jumped at the chance because she felt it was a way for her to give back to the school that gave her a chance and career.Born in the Dominican Republic, Chalas came to Lynn with her family when she was 9 and grew up on Hamilton and Henry avenues and graduated from Classical High School. She joined the National Guard during her junior year of high school and after graduation headed to Mass Maritime, where, “I was not your poster child student,” she said with a laugh.In fact, when things got tough, she took a year off, but when she came back, she got down to work and was offered a chance at flight school.”I turned it down,” she said. “I come from humble beginnings, and I thought I should go out and work right after school.”So after graduating with a degree in marine engineering, the academy secured her a job with GE instead, where she worked for 11 years and traveled the world. And when a second chance at flight school came up, she took it, she said.”I knew, in the back of my mind, I wanted the chance to fly,” she said.She received her officer’s commission in 2001. Chalas was a platoon leader at Ft. Rucker Army Aviation School, graduated at the top of her class and was sent in January 2004 to Iraq, where she flew troops across the country.Although she also received a master’s degree in business administration from Georgia State University, Chalas said she considers Mass Maritime her home. She credits the academy’s President Rear Admiral Richard Gurnon and Director of Media Relations Chris Ryan for keeping her on the straight and narrow.She said she is also happy to serve as a trustee because it allows her to give back some of what they gave her.”The support they put behind me, they had a job for me, and they are always reaching out to me,” she said, choking up. “I didn’t think I would get so emotional.””It’s emotional for all of us,” said Gasca. “It’s an honor for all of us.”