The United States Military Academy, more simply known as West Point, has a rigorous acceptance process in which they look at your academics, physical strength, and leadership skills. Additionally all those requirements must be accompanied by a nomination from a U.S. congress member. Those who choose to join the military and specifically go through a military academy are of the most prestigious people in the world and should be recognized for their abilities and willingness to help the country. I changed tremendously in my perspective on the country and my respect for those in it while following my eldest brother through the process of applying for West Point.

My eldest brother, Brian, was a 2012 high school graduate high school. He is the first in our family history to ever be a part of the active military, so we all dedicated ourselves to this experience. Receiving an appointment, or acceptance, into USMA is extremely difficult. Less than 10% of the applicants receive an appointment. Brian’s naturally short stature was a characteristic that was not favorable at West Point, but his athletic abilities from playing Lacrosse and doing other physical activities when he was younger, such as karate, helped his application. He was also a part of the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, which heightened his physical abilities. Being a part of JROTC also improved his leadership skills and helped him become familiar with the armed forces. Brian knew he wanted to become an army officer after realizing all that the military had done for our family. They had provided the helicopters from the U.S. to Vietnam during the Vietnam War that carried our father and his family to America. They had provided all that was necessary for us to achieve the great life we have now. The reason he had for applying to The Academy instead of simply enlisting later in life was that if he was going to commit, he might as well go all in with the full experience.

He attended Summer Leaders Experience during the summer of his rising senior year. This allowed him to go up to the campus and check it out. He was able to get a taste of the academic classes, military training, physical fitness training and intramural athletics. Brian eventually received his appointment to USMA in the early months of 2012. Congressman, at the time, Tom Price called him to congratulate Brian for his achievement of receiving an appointment from West Point. The day his Certificate of Appointment came in the mail I walked downstairs to gather with the whole family for the event. We sat around the certificate at Brian’s desk. The certificate was encased and framed in a matte black certificate folder. The words “United States Military Academy West Point, N.Y.” and the school logo stood out from the front of the folder in gold letters, the school’s colors. The inside contained a picture of the Washington Hall building on the left and on the other side was the actual certificate. It read “On behalf of the President of the United States of America, the Admissions committee of the United States Military Academy takes great pleasure in announcing an appointment to Brian Stuart Class of 2016” and was signed by a colonel of the US Army. After following him in this process for months on end, I was ecstatic to hear that all his hard work had paid off. I had then realized how important it was to truly work for something I wanted, which has shaped the way I approach my goals now.

Brian awaited the news of acceptance from the other colleges and universities he had applied to, which came around the end March of 2012. After seeing his choices of colleges, he decided to attend West Point. My personal feelings about my brother’s acceptance and decision to attend West Point were severely mixed. I was aware that it was an amazing opportunity that must be earned, so I was unbelievably proud of him. But I also had doubts and negative thoughts in my mind. I had no idea what would happen to him during and after this experience. Our family spent many days together talking about The Academy and I learned much about it. As I became more knowledgeable about the school, I couldn’t help but be worried for him. He was to follow strict rules provided by the school like standing in formation before each of the three meals a day and a rigid curfew of 11 PM each night. Obligations of the students included completing military training and taking classes, such as boxing, military combat, and survival swimming. It was challenging to know that my brother was going to come out of this a completely new person; more disciplined, but not the same childish brother I had grown up with. As Brian prepared for West Point, we helped him get in better shape for his Army Personal Fitness Tests by giving him the exercises daily. I even took part in this at-home training, which changed my view on being fit greatly and made me a much stronger athlete.

We all then headed up to West Point in the hot summer days of July to send Brian off to Cadet Basic Training, more heinously known as Beast, 8 weeks before the academic year began. This day was named R-Day, and it is the day when the appointed students officially become West Point cadet candidates. We had the orientation and other briefings to prepare Brian but more importantly the families, for what was to come. We sat in a meeting room with other cadet candidates and their families and then we heard the infamous line, “You now have 90 seconds to say your goodbyes”. It was in that exact moment that the realization that my eldest brother was going to spend the next 47 months in a military academy sank in. At the end of the training program, right before the start of the school year, we flew back up to West Point for A-Day, “A” standing for acceptance. My parents and I sat on bleachers on “The Plain”, which is the parade field in front of Washington Hall, and waited for the ceremony to begin. We were surrounded by thousands of other people excited to see their cadets. The field was freshly cut and had that summer grass smell. The ceremony was a long parade of the newly accepted corps of cadets. They all walked perfectly in sync like robots, which was one of the many things they worked on endlessly during training. I remember watching each group walk by, and my parents and I furiously looking at each face to try and find Brian. He stood directly in front of us in formation, as the corps sang the army song and national anthem, but due to his freshly shaved head and his newly tanned body from spending hours on end training under the summer sun, my parents could not recognize him. I vigorously tapped my parents and said, “Look! That looks like Brian I think that’s him!” They quickly denied my comment and continued to look around, even though it truly was him. From all of this, I have learned to appreciate everything the armed forces does, from providing the privileged life my family has in America to working so tirelessly to live up to the expectations of the Army. I now know more than I could have ever imagined about USMA and the Army. I use this knowledge to always remember to be grateful for not only the extensive work and service of my brother, but of all those who fight for American rights. Most significantly, Brian being the first in our family history for this has opened many doors for me and my other brother, Jack, who now also attends West Point.