Life At A Military Academy
Most schools in the country have their best students going to some of the most prestigious schools in the country. The difference with our top students is that they are going to serve their country.
Every year our school has at least one student going to a military academy. Many years we have multiple going to multiple academies. Senior Jacob Roset is in the process of applying to West Point and the Naval Academy. He said, “I want to go to an academy because I want to serve my country. It has been a goal of mine since middle school. Enlisting is also a way to serve your country, but I wanted to receive a college education and the academies are a good way to do that.”
People go to the Academies for many deferent reasons. Roset said, “I first started to think about going to West Point in fifth grade. I have a second cousin that went there, and he was why I first thought about going there. When I started at Catholic, Sgt. Major convinced me I need to go to the Naval Academy. I am in the process of applying and receiving nominations to both schools.”
Although the Academies are very physically and mentally challenging, Roset is not concerned. He said, “I am mostly afraid that the classes are going to be very hard. I know I can work through it though. I will probably be about the average student there. Lots of students there have 36 on their ACTs and are National Merit Finalists. I just want to get through it. I am not worried about Plebe summer either. At West Point it is called Beast. It is supposed to be very hard, but I am worried about that the least.”
Thomas Paladino, Class of 2017, is currently at the Air Force Academy. This is his normal day. He said, “As a freshman, I would wake up at 5:30 to clean my room and to dress. I would then go to formation at 6:00 for morning training session and calling of the minuets, which is knowledge we previously memorized. Then I would go to morning meeting, breakfast and classes. At 12:00 I would have noon meal formation were I would march to lunch.
“I would then have more classes until 3:30. I would then have a “smoke session,” sometimes if they told us to ‘grab rucks and rifles,’ we would know it wasn’t going to be fun. After this I would have dinner and evening training session. After this I would have academic call to quarters until 11:00 then taps.”
Senior Tyler Mackenzie is also applying to West Point but he is doing it for a different reason. He said, “My father and two of his brothers graduated from West Point. Clearly having them all go through it has put the seed in my head, but it’s not the stories they tell and the cool things they tell me about that make me want to go. All three of them are role models for me. They are, in my opinion, the model citizen of the USA. If these are the types of people that the academies put out, then you know damn well I want to be a part of that legacy.”
Although our school is nothing like an actual academy, it does help the cadets prepare for their first year. Paladino said, “One of the hardest parts of the transition from Catholic to an Academy is the time commitment, but Catholic helps with that. ROTC also helped me at the beginning. PTing with Sgt. Maj. every other morning did a lot for my fitness and drill helped a lot with basic training. I knew so much drill that the people at the academy thought I was prior enlisted for two and a half weeks.”
Even though some parts of the academies are incredibly difficult, the cadets still find a way to have fun and make memories. Paladino said, “During survival training after eating nothing but MREs and rabbit for a week, we had to dig a big ditch around our camp because it was going to rain. There were about 40 people digging and we all sang at the top of our lungs even after the security force guys told us not to. It came back to haunt us later but it is still one of my favorite experiences. In spite of all the unpleasantness, we still found a way to have fun.”
Since cadets spend so much of their time at the academies either studying, drilling, or working out, they often have little time left over for themselves. Even with all this, they still manage to have relationships. Spencer Walsh, class of 2018, talks about his struggle. He said, “One of the hardest parts about being at the academy is being away from my friends and family. I try to see them every opportunity I can. It is also hard but not impossible to keep relationships. I’m still dating my high school girlfriend Clara while she is at the U of A. I make sure to talk to her every day and check in but it’s not quite the same as being there. You really both have to be committed or it won’t work.”
It is a testament to our school that we have so many dedicated alumni that have graduated from military academies. Some people are called to lead our country and help others. Mackenzie said, “I want to go to USMA for a whole list or reasons, most of which are very cliché, but it is really how I feel. I want to serve my country and give back to the people who have given me so much. The military academies set you up on a path to do just that; serve. But what the academies do that no other institutions can is they build leaders and make people prepared for any task in and out of the service.”
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