United States Naval Academy - Part 2

As you know, last week I was out of town for a visit to the United States Naval Academy (USNA).  Do you know what the Naval Academy is?  Is it a college?  Yes.  Is it the military?  Yes.  It is both, but, quite honestly, it is more than just the sum of it’s parts!

I was so impressed by the Naval Academy and all of the students (referred to as Midshipmen) who are attending school there.  Of course, the two that I was happiest to see were Kilbourne graduates, Hannah Vincent who is a senior at the Naval Academy and Micah Vincent who is a freshman at the Naval Academy. 

I was able to join Hannah and Micah for lunch in Kings Hall –  their single dining hall and it is unbelievable to see how quickly they are able to feed all 4400 Midshipmen at once and get them moving on their way.  I wish I had grabbed a better picture than this, but the tables and people were packed into the dining hall in every direction imaginable – it was unreal.  Believe me... this picture doesn't even come close to doing it justice!

Without a doubt attending the USNA is a major commitment!  Students carry 18 to 20 hours each semester and they are pushed physically, mentally and morally so that they will excel as leaders today and in the future to assume the highest responsibilities of command, citizenship and government.

While at the USNA we received presentations from impressive leaders who oversee the school.  I am going to try to focus on some of the highlights from the presentations, but if you are interested in learning more about the Naval Academy, I hope you will please stop to see me so that we can talk more in depth about the details involved.

Attending the Naval Academy means that students complete their 4 years of college and earn their bachelor’s degrees free of charge.  (Well, free in that they don’t have to pay to attend school, but there is a service requirement after graduation.)  Additionally, 100% of the students are assured of a job following their graduation – something that other colleges certainly can’t claim.  The national average of students entering a college and then graduating from that college 4 years later is just 29%.  At the USNA the 4 year graduation rate is 89%.  This is obviously very impressive!  Of those who don’t graduate, only 2% were due to academic reasons.  The rest of the reasons were medical, personal such as deciding that they don’t want to be in the Navy or have other family reasons that they need to leave or because of conduct/ honor issues in which case the USNA may have asked them to leave.

The core curriculum that all students must take includes 140 hours.  Examples of classes that are included in the core curriculum are: Math, Chemistry, Physics, Engineering, Cyber, English, History, Government, Leadership, Ethics, Law, Seamanship/ Navigation, and PE.  (In case you were curious, this is more than what most students at other colleges are required to complete.)  Then, on top of that, the students must pick a major which can be from the 25 various major choices – most of which are STEM in nature, but there are 5 majors in the humanities.  What they do not have are majors related to healthcare and so attending the USNA would not be a good fit if this is your future plan.

 

Most of the majors at the USNA are STEM related.  Cyber warfare is a new area of emphasis that they are focusing on as well.  68% of their graduates are from STEM majors.  The other 32% of graduates majored in Liberal Arts fields.  We had a chance to see some of the Engineering facilities where they are very focused on project based learning.  They have students who participated in unique events such as building and competing with a concrete canoe (yes, it really was made of concrete and it actually floated with 4 students in it), building an autonomous sailboat, designing a Formula 1 racing car, and a 2-man human powered submarine.

The major doesn’t necessarily determine what field the Midshipmen’s future Naval Career job will be in – they have the option to select what they feel is a good fit for them and also based on what the Navy needs.  So, for example, I talked with a Political Science major who hopes to be a Naval Pilot and another student is an Aerospace Engineering major who would like to be on Submarines in the future.  When the students select their desired areas for a career, they rank their top 3 preferences.  About 86% of the students are given their 1^st choice, nearly 96 receive their 1^st or 2^nd choice and the remaining students end up with their 3^rd choice.  The seniors that we met are very focused on the fact that they will receive their commissions (their Naval jobs) this coming Thursday and it is an exciting day for them so they are anxiously awaiting finding out what they will be doing in the future.  In order to help the Midshipmen to determine what fields would be the best fit, their summers are split into 3 segments – they can participate in different learning opportunities and trainings such as being on a ship or submarine, taking summer classes, traveling abroad, or developing their leadership through various opportunities such as assisting with the Summer Seminar.

The faculty at the Naval Academy is comprised of half military officers (who typically rotate back to the fleet every 3 years) and half civilians who all have PhD’s and provide consistency as they typically are there for long periods of time.  Considering how difficult the academics are at the Naval Academy I really appreciated the commitment that they have to support students who want and need additional help.  Students can sign up for “Supplemental” assistance if they are having a tough time.  If that is not enough then they also offer “EI” which stands for “Extra Instruction” which is a chance for the student to meet 1:1 with their professor for more help in the classes.

Students attending the Naval Academy do still have opportunities for International Engagement during their 4 years.  For some this may be a traditional study abroad where they spend a semester overseas, but for others it is a week or a month-long process traveling to learn in other countries.

At the library we met an incredibly kind and thoughtful woman at the circulation desk who was generous with her time and knowledge to help us understand more about what life is like on the “Navy Yard” and for the Midshipmen as well as for the families of people who work at the Academy.  One of the coolest things she told us was that there are tunnels which connect the Library and runs under/ through three of the buildings before coming to an end.  I also appreciated the fact that the library was so similar to the libraries that you would find on any other college campus.

One of the big aspects that many of the speakers emphasized was their desire to put students in situations where they fail and learn how to overcome their failures.  They want them to realize that the key is to keep moving forward so that in the future, when it really matters they will be able to be in tough situations and continue toward their goals.  This was a concept that resonated well with me since that is a belief that we try to focus on at Kilbourne.

More updates about the Naval Academy and photos to come tomorrow!