Posted by Howard Richman on June 25 2008 at 12:11:22:
An article in today´s Souderton (PA) Independent features Amy French, who is enrolling in the US Naval Academy. Here is a selection:
Amy French does a lot of running, push-ups and sit-ups.Howard"Nobody said a word to her that she needed to do it. She just decided to do it," her father, Chris French, said.
But it´s indicative of the way 18-year-old Amy, of Souderton, set her sights three years ago on a goal of being accepted into the United States Naval Academy and went to work to make the dream come true.
On July 2, she reports to Annapolis, Md., for Class of 2012 "I-Day" induction activities.
Ask the 2008 National Merit finalist and National Honor Society member, who recently graduated from PA Cyber Charter School, about the reason she decided in ninth grade she wanted to go to the service academy, and she, at first, makes it sound rather serendipitous, recounting reading an online article about changes in Navy uniforms for women and following the links back to the Naval Academy Web site.
"I clicked on it and their propaganda worked on me," French said.
Chris French´s stories about his time in the military and a grandfather and great-grandfather who´d been in the military also helped influence her, she said. What really attracted her to the Naval Academy, though, Amy says later, are its core values of honor, courage and commitment....