“Aviation is a big part of my life,” she said. “It has been since I was 16.”
At 16, she went on a solo flight with one of her ROTC instructors, retired Lt. Col. David Yunt, who has taken many Stebbins ROTC students for solo flights. Cupp said that flight made her fall in love with flying, and she entered the advanced manufacturing and machining program at Stebbins to work on the skills she’d need to understand how airplanes work.
Cupp said she flew a plane before she ever drove a car, and she was more scared to drive than fly.
“You have to be so focused, but you’re so in control,” Cupp said of flying. “There’s nothing else like it. The sights are — well, Ohio is pretty boring to look at, but it’s still really pretty.”
Cupp became pregnant her senior year of high school, and she said she was still able to participate in ROTC through that time. Her instructors were accommodating with the physical training she’d have to do, and when she outgrew her uniform, the instructors told her to keep grooming standards.
“Throughout her time in our AFJROTC program, Lexi has exemplified dependability and self-discipline, consistently rising to meet every challenge,” said Sgt. Mike Hood, Stebbins AFJROTC instructor. “I do not doubt that her determination and hard work will take her far in her future endeavors.”
Cupp had a leadership position as a flight commander, which showed her while she was pregnant, she’d have to get her act together more than her peers, she said.
Once Reese was born, she had to take six weeks off school to recover from giving birth. During that time, her teachers worked with her to provide homework and she said she spent a lot of time on Zoom with her teachers.
“It’s also been good to have the community,” Cupp said, “All my teachers and stuff, they love the baby. A few of them even have pictures in their office.”
Her friends have also been supportive, Cupp said, and Reese often comes with her and her friends.
Having a baby in high school is an obstacle that fortunately fewer teens are dealing with these days. Between the 1991 peak for teen births and 2020, the overall teen birth rate fell from 61.8 to 15.4 births per 1,000 adolescent females ages 15-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control.
Cupp and her husband, Aaron, plan to move to Cincinnati in a few weeks. This summer, Cupp is headed to Aim High Flight Academy — an aviation scholarship for a three-week introductory flight program — but Cupp said the rest of the summer will be spent job-hunting and preparing for school.
In the fall, she’s looking forward to exploring the UC community. A few weeks ago, she went to UC with her husband to explore.
“I actually got to talk to a few student moms,” Cupp said. “And there’s plenty of clubs and stuff that surround that.”
The Dayton Daily News is honoring graduating seniors who overcame challenges in their high school careers. Five students were selected through nominations from their schools, friends and family and will be profiled throughout the week in the Dayton Daily News.
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