With senior year coming to an end, seniors are in the process of choosing where they will be spending the next years of their lives. After a long application process, some of the seniors have fully committed to the military.
The process of applying to military programs can vary from student to student, however, all applicants must demonstrate physical fitness and academic achievement.
“You have to pass a candidate fitness assessment and then the actual application itself,” senior going to the Navy Olivia Lee said. “And then the last portion of application you need is to get a nomination from either your congressman, senator or President.”
Additionally, leadership and community involvement is highly valued. It is necessary for the applicant to demonstrate dedication in serving the community.
“The big thing is being well rounded,” senior going to the Navy Jackson Runyan said. “They look for a lot of kids who do a lot of extracurriculars like service with special needs, and working at homeless shelters. Demonstrating leadership is a big one.”
Now that final selections have been made, it is up to the students to choose the paths they will follow once there.
“It’s pretty sports based [in the Navy],” Lee said. “I’ve done it for 10 years, very competitively. I’ve won the Junior Olympics four times, but there’s no synchronized swimming team at the Naval Academy. So I could join swimming.”
While joining the military offers a multitude of opportunities, it is also a big commitment.
“A piece of advice for someone that wants to join us to make sure this is something you’re 100% confident doing,” senior going into the Air Force Ashlynn Denton said. “It’s a big step to just jump into that. So make sure you’re very confident in what you’re doing.”
As our Reedy Lions move forward in their journeys, they hope to inspire others to come.
“I think it’s really important to inspire women to go after these more masculine based opportunities,” Lee said. ”I just really want to inspire girls so they can also try and join if they want.”
