Mason’s Tex Smith signs to attend U.S. Military Academy at West Point
MASON, Mich. (WLNS) – It was a big day at Mason High School on Friday as Tex Smith put pen to paper and will continue on to the United States Military Academy at West Point after high school, opting to not follow in his Dad’s footsteps who was a marine and his brother who is currently in the Naval Academy.
Getting into West Point is no easy task with a 12% acceptance rate, Smith had to play at least two varsity sports, maintain all A’s throughout high school, perform well on the SAT, pass multiple physical fitness tests as well as write essays and receive letters of recommendation. Like its unique application process, Smith’s way of learning he was accepted came from a phone call from Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin.
“I was in the car with my mom and I got a call,” Smith said. “I didn’t know who the number was so I declined it and then I saw the voicemail and I was like, ‘Oh, I should probably call her back.’ My mom was 100 times more excited than me. I was kind of in disbelief about what this really meant for me but in the end I was really excited.”
During his freshman or ‘plebe’ year at West Point, Smith will be required to participate in a sport and is undecided between track and wrestling.
“I’m excited just for the military experience,” Smith said. “My first six weeks at the Academy I go through cadet basic training and basically I’ll do stuff like jump out of planes and get sighted in with like a M16, so I’m really excited for that.”
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