Two semifinalists for Military Child of the Year award live in Lompoc

LOMPOC, Calif. - A national non-profit military organization has nominated two teens from Lompoc for a high honor.

Over 900 exceptional children of active service military members and veterans from all over the world have been nominated for Operation Homefront's Military Child of the Year award.

“At Operation Homefront, our mission is to build strong, stable and secure military families so that they thrive and not simply struggle to get by in the communities that they've worked so hard to protect,” says Jenny Valderas director of Operation Homefront.

Two of these young semifinalists, 16-year-old Natalia Serna and 17-year-old Emma Norsky, are local to Vandenberg Space Force Base and Lompoc.

Emma graduated high school a year early and is already beginning her college classes.

“I’ve moved nine times in my whole life and ten different schools. It's a hard adjustment, especially if you're not used to it, but it makes you way more adaptable to change, that's for sure,” she says. 

Winners of this award are given $10,000, a laptop, and are honored among their peers for the positive influence they have on their families, schools, and communities.

“It's not always easy for our military kids. Those moves, really thinking about the new friends they have to make. They have to start over,” says Valderas.

The honor follows the recipient for a lifetime, serving as a mark of pride in their accomplishments, and enables connections with senior military leaders, celebrities, and like-minded peers. 

“It does come with a lot of hardships, but it also comes with a lot of great opportunities that you wouldn't get otherwise,” says Norsky.