NEISD student accepted into prestigious U.S Military Academy at West Point
Eighteen-year-old Calvin Lu is going over the day in the place he’s spent most of his time for the past four years.
“Junior year, I remember getting around three hours of sleep a night just from staying up from all my homework and planning for the next day,” Lu said.
Lu, now a Senior at the STEM Academy on the Legacy of Educational Excellence (LEE) High School campus, is a Cadet Lieutenant Colonel in JROTC.
“As the battalion commander, I oversee the whole battalion so that’s all 120 cadets as well as the company commanders and all the leadership positions as well,” Lu said.
He wakes up every morning at 5 a.m. and heads to school for his morning PT, or physical training. Afterwards, Lu begins a full day of classes.
That’s not where his day ends; because after school, it’s time for drill team practice, until about 6:30 p.m.
Hector Reyes is an Army Instructor and Retired First Sgt. who has worked at LEE for 9 years.
“Watching Calvin grow from a shy Freshman; you could see his determination from the get-go. Right now, he is the highest-ranking cadet we have, a Lieutenant Colonel. He also leads the drill team and he won Cadet of the Year,” 1SG (R) Reyes said.
All of that hard work has paid off because Lu just earned a full-ride to the United States Military Academy at West Point.
"I was super honored! To even be considered for an appointment, first you have to get a nomination. You have to get a nomination from a congressman, a senator, a vice president, or the president himself. I ended up getting the senator nomination from Ted Cruz and the Will Hurd nomination as well,” Lu said.
“To get an academy appointment is just- it’s everything. You’ve got to have the academics; you’ve got the have the physical fitness; you’ve got to have everything, the total package. Calvin has accomplished that,” 1SG (R) Reyes said.
Lu said being a part of both JROTC and STEM helped him discover his path.
“It’s what I love to do. It takes up so much time but I don’t mind it because it’s for the people around me and my cadets. It’s what I love.”
He will be packing his bags and heading to West Point at the end of June.
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