ACCEPTED TO WEST POINT … Brendan Degryse, a senior at Four County Career Center who has accepted an appointment to West Point. According to school superintendent Tim Meister, the fact that Brendan (whose home school is Fairview) was actually nominated to both West Point and the Air Force Academy was a first in Four County’s history and, I believe, having a student attend a service academy is also a first. Pictured from left: Tim Meister, who arranged the program, Matt Geiger, Four County computer programming and gaming instructor; and Brendan. Brendan gave a lot of credit to Mr. Geiger and the Four County IT Academy for helping him pursue the academy application process as well as all that he has learned through Four County’s IT Academy. (PHOTO PROVIDED)
Four County Career Center recorded a first this year. Senior Brendan Degryse, whose home school is Fairview, was nominated to both West Point and the Air Force Academy.
He accepted his appointment to West Point where he plans to earn a degree in computer science and pursue a military career in either cyber or aviation.
Brendan told Archbold Rotarians on April 27 that he has been interested in a career in cyber as well as becoming a pilot for some time.
With those interests, he thought that one of the service academies might be a good place for him to further his education.
As a Fairview sophomore, he decided to visit Four County Career Center and was impressed by the school’s computer program.
However, his parents weren’t so sure that they wanted their son to attend a vocational school given his keen interest in computer science.
That was before they learned about the IT Academy at Four County Career Center and met Matt Geiger, the computer programming and gaming instructor at the school.
Brendan said the service academy application process took about eight months to complete and included a variety of interviews — starting with representatives of both of Ohio’s U.S. senators — Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown as well as Congressman Bob Latta’s office.
Along with a lengthy application, he also needed to complete a fitness test last summer and medical exams. He said the minimum ACT score needed for a service academy is about 30. (Brendan’s average score was 34 with 36 as the top score on the ACT.)
Once the application was completed and his nomination forwarded to the academies, he was then interviewed by representatives from each academy.
He explained that in addition to test scores and passing the fitness test and medical exams, the academies looked for leadership qualities and extracurricular involvement.
At Fairview, Brendan was on the golf and quiz bowl teams as well as the band. And, he was selected to represent Fairview at Buckeye Boys State.
Only about 10 percent of those who apply are ultimately accepted at the service academies, he said.
He received notice of his acceptance to West Point during Christmas break. He later learned that he had not been accepted at the Air Force Academy, but was offered a full Air Force ROTC scholarship to any college that had an Air Force ROTC program.
Brendan reports to West Point on June 27th for the first day of processing and won’t be home until Thanksgiving.