Ready To Serve Their Country

Seniors Brinkley Snow and Kaitlyn Guyer Plan To Attend West Point and the Naval Academy

Photo by Lucas Sankey on Unsplash

College. The main thought going through every senior’s mind. For seniors Brinkley Snow and Kaitlyn Guyer, they know exactly where they want to go. After graduation, Snow plans on attending West Point and Guyer has decided to attend the Naval Academy.

Applying to both of these academies takes a tremendous amount of time, and being accepted is an honor that requires both brains and skills. Snow and Guyer possessed the many valuable qualities that it takes to be accepted into these prestigious academies. Through their hard work and intelligence, they were rewarded with this praiseworthy honor.

“I was friends with Eli when he was doing his whole process,” Snow said. “Ever since I was little I’ve wanted to join the military, but I didn’t know the academies were a thing until high school. When Eli got in, I started asking him lots of questions about it and he told me about all of the opportunities that come with it. The academy sounded like the deal for me so I looked into it, applied and got in.”

Guyer had a similar story of her process of getting into the Naval Academy.

”I have a lot of family members who are in the military and I always thought it was a cool thing to be a part of,” Guyer said. “When I got into high school, I talked to people like Eli, my dad and his uncle and it sounded like something I wanted to be a part of. Both serving my country and getting a good college education have always been important to me.”

Once they attend the academies, they complete four years of college before they serve in the military. After their education is complete, they are assigned to serve in the military for four to eight years.

“For me, it would be in the four kinds of branches of the Navy which would be service warfare which is basically the big ships, submarines which is under water, marine core which is kind of a separate branch and the last one is aviation,” Guyer said.

Overall, both academies work similarly post graduation.

”At Westpoint, during your first semester of your senior year, which is called your first year, you get your branch assignment and there are 12 branches of the army,” Snow said. “After you get branch night, that's when you get assigned the branches that you’ve ranked, you have post night which is where you get to pick which post you go to.”

Both Snow and Guyer have high expectations for what comes after their four years in the academy.

“I hope to build a career out of being in the army and serve my country to my fullest potential,” Snow said. “I think that I can do that by being in the army as my complete career and just retiring when they make me.”

Just like Snow, Guyer is also hopeful for her future and the many different careers she can have after the academy and the navy.

”It was definitely a hard process getting in,” Guyer said. “Everyone I talked to says it’s definitely worth it. Your four years in is by far a lot shorter than what you’ll get out of it. Like the benefits you get from going to an academy, the networking you’ll make, the people you meet, most grads from any academy really have become really successful people. They go into all sorts of career fields.”

Even though Snow and Guyer are excited for what’s ahead of them, they are prepared for the hardships and stressful situations during their time in the academies.

”It is definitely going to get tougher before it gets better,” Guyer said.

Snow agrees.

”I have heard from a lot of grads and parents of grads that the stress they put you through at the academy’s is extremely hard but at the end of the day when you’re in the military the stress they put you through really prepares you for the stressful situation you’ll be put in when it really counts,” Snow said.

Even though this can be tough, West Point and the Naval Academy try to get students acclimated to the environment and make it easier for them to transition.

”Mental toughness is the main thing they’ll teach you, especially during something called plead summer which is like your basic training,” Guyer said.

Westpoint does something similar.

”At Westpoint they have a thing called Beast which is the same thing,” Snow said. “They put you in stressful situations, they assimilate you to the army, it’s pretty standard and it’s like basic training but I heard that’s the easiest part because you just do what you’re told and you’ll be fine. But I think a lot of the obstacles come during the academic years when you’re getting four hours of sleep because you have to study for eight different finals and write thousand word essays and on top of that wake up in the morning and do physical training.”

Both Guyer and Snow are prepared for their future in the academies and are ready to serve our country to the best of their abilities.

Most people are ready to slow down after they graduate high school and live a pretty normal college life and I know for me and Kaitlyn that’s not going to happen but it’s something I think we’re both prepared for,” Snow said.