Posted on 04/29/2017 10:33:40 AM PDT by SandRat
SIERRA VISTA – At 18 years old, Buena High School senior Adrian Garlant is living his dream. The Buena High School senior recently received an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York.
Garlant says he’s been dreaming of attending West Point Military Academy since the sixth grade. His mother Elizabeth Clark remembers the day he announced his plan.
“They must have had career day or something, because he came in the door and said, ‘Mom, I’m going to West Point when I grow up’,” Clark recalls. “I said, ‘Do you know how hard that is?’”
Clark says she encouraged her young son to formulate a backup plan, but instead, Adrian researched what he needed to accomplish to ensure a successful appointment and then got to work.
“Instead of playing video games at home, he started joining clubs,” remembers Clark. “He began tailoring this classes and volunteering in the community because he knew it would build his resume.”
All that hard work finally paid off on the evening on April 5 when Adrian received “the call.”
U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., called Garlant’s cell phone to tell him the good news. After McSally reassured the student that she wasn’t “messing with him,” Garlant hung up and promptly told his family.
“He walked into the room and said, ‘That was congresswoman Martha McSally and I’m going to West Point’,” said Clark.
Garlant currently has a 4.0 GPA, is in the top 10 percent of his graduating class and holds the rank of Cadet Captain at Buena High School’s JROTC program. He plans to study civil engineering at the academy.
Buena High School counselors estimate that around 15 percent of their graduates choose a military career. According to college admission service The Princeton Review, only 10 percent of the nearly 15,000 West Point applicants are accepted.
Between now and his basic training report date in July, Garlant says he’s prepping for the rigors of academy life, including ramping up his physical training by working on his push-ups, sit-ups and run, and even receiving a waiver to use the high school weight room during zero hour.
Adrian Garlant, who also earned an appointment to the Merchant Marine Academy, joins the ranks of notable West Point alumni, including President Dwight D. Eisenhower, astronaut Buzz Aldrin and one of Garlant’s heroes, Civil War general Stonewall Jackson.
In fact, it was a documentary on Stonewall Jackson that influenced his decision to pursue a career in the Infantry.
“I want to be out there fighting, leading soldiers into battle,” Garlant said. “I watched a documentary on Stonewall Jackson and I loved his leadership style- the way he treated and led his soldiers.”
He also joins another notable West Point appointee — his best friend, Ricardo Damiani – who received his own West Point appointment last year as a Buena senior.
Garlant’s family has a history of military service, as his stepfather is former U.S. Army and his older brother is currently serving in the Army.
His mother, Elizabeth Clark says this story reflects not only Garlant’s talent, but the quality of students and staff at Buena High School.
“There always somebody complaining about Buena and how they want to send their kids to school elsewhere,” she explains. “But Buena has good staff and the administration is amazing. So, let’s start talking about some of the good that comes out of there.”
Despite working hard to achieve his goal, Garlant is quick to give credit to those who helped him along the way.
“I need to thank the Buena High School JROTC,” he said. “And my parents, and the Boys & Girls Club, and everybody who wrote evaluations and letters of recommendation on my behalf.
“I couldn’t have done it without them, either.”
Keep him away from Benny Havens.
What a focused kid.
Good for him!!
I’m 48 and STILL unfocused :)
I wish him the very best in life.
“...The Corps, and the Corps, and the Corps....” —Douglas McArthur
Nice story. My kid wants to go to an academy as well.
But their number of 1 in 10 admitted is not the whole story. 60% of those applications are not completed or candidates are not qualified:
-They don’t finish all the paperwork to complete the application
-They fail drug test or physical
-They don’t get high enough standardized test scores
-Etc.
So really, for a good, qualified candidate, chances are better than 1:4.
Some accepted students ultimately choose other schools, or other academies.
You just have to get really good grades, be a proven student leader in high school, have substantial extracurriculars, and jump through every hoop required. You will likely get an appointment to an academy, it just may not be your first choice....
When the time came, he actually got his appointment from our US Representative. I always found it interesting that he kept that interest for so long.
He also applied for an NROTC scholarship to keep his options open. He was granted that as well and asked to pick 3 colleges, of which the Navy would assign him to one. So he had two paths to his career.
He ended up at Marquette taking the NROTC route. I wasn't the least disappointed with his choice. He went through the program and is now a career Navy officer.
I have wondered if he would have survived his first year at Annapolis. It's my understanding or was my understanding the hazing can or could be undignified. If so, by that time in his life, he may have been unwilling to accept it.
It was interesting that recruiters from the Academy and from Marquette both encouraged him to take their paths to success. At the Academy, he was also recruited, as were his mother and me, pretty fiercely by representatives from some parents' association.
That was a long time ago, and the Navy ended up sending his for a masters in aeronautical engineering at the Air Force Institute in Dayton.
He's a dozen years into his career these days. I don't know that he is interested in going beyond 20 years. We will see. There isn't a chance of it if clinton had been elected. There are politics in the Navy like everywhere else on earth. I have suggested he wait to see what happens when they rebuild the Navy as is necessary before he makes his decision.
He has always gone his own way.
I still think people who succeed and complete the course at any of our military academies are people who have earned our admiration.
Good for him. I have a son at the Naval Academy and another who wants to go.
A friend of mine’s son’s appointment to the academy began with a recommendation from his Army company commander after he had been in the Army for a year......
........my son never made the Academy but he completed 3 years at MMA (Marine Military Academy), then 4 years in the Corps at A & M College Station.
After 7 years of Military “stuff” he did not need any career Counseling! He knew he had had “enough” military.
Now, he has a six figure job and I’m proud of him.
It’s best to keep the happy stories until they graduate. It’s a tough row to hoe.
Big congrats to the kid, family, school, and the whole Ft HoochieKoochie community! As a 30 year HS teacher, it was always such a high honor to all of us when one of our own got into one of the academies.
This makes me proud.
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