Although Garrett Ross Clark, a senior at the high school, has received letters to both institutions in early February stating he was admitted, he has decided to attend the Air Force Academy, and he will leave on Thursday, June 25. Clark hopes to have a degree in aeronautical engineering and, after graduating, wants to go to a pilot school and become a fighter pilot.
“I’m more interested in flying,” he said. “I’ve wanted to be a pilot all my life.”
However, he said he was honored by the appointments and hopes to represent Trigg County well at the air force academy. “I was born at Murray-Calloway County Hospital, but I’ve always lived here.”
A letter from the air force academy said that such appointment is only available to about 1,500 of the 9,200 people that apply, and is equivalent to a scholarship that is valued at $403,000.
Clark, the son of Jackie and Harriet Clark, participates in the school’s gifted and talented program, has been taking several advanced placement classes and engineering classes, as he said the academy has an engineering school. He has a 3.9 grade point average and made a 30 on the ACT when he took it in November.
Clark is captain of the varsity swim team, and is a member of the track team, National Honor Society and Key Club. He is also a member of the Civil Air Patrol Cadet program and was named Cadet of the Year.
(For the rest of the story, see this week's edition of The Cadiz Record.)
