HENDERSON — Every year roughly 16,000 young people jump through an endless number of hoops with the hope of being accepted into the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

Of those thousands, the four-year college extends invitations to between 1,100 and 1,200 applicants.

Henderson County native and 2016 graduate of Henderson County High, Trevor Owens, was one of them.

The 19-year-old son of Henderson County residents Craig and Dusta Breedlove is currently in his sophomore year at the institution where he is pursuing a major in Ocean Engineering.

"Getting into the academy is a very long process," he said. "I started working on getting accepted my sophomore year in high school. I just started doing as much research as I could and talking to as many people as I could."

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While the research began his sophomore year, "Nothing really starts happening with it until your junior year when you start applying to colleges," Owens said. "It was then that I was able to start applying for some of the Naval Academy's summer programs. I began to do whatever I could to spend as much time around the naval academy as I could. I guess just to be around the school as much as I could." 

One of the summer programs in which Owens participated as a high school student was the Naval Academy Summer Seminar.

"People who have just finished their junior year in high school can come to the academy and stay there a week. It's like being a midshipman without being a midshipman," he said. "They stay in the dorm. They'll go to morning workouts just like we would. They will go to formation, classes and workshops. People in the summer seminar pretty much live life like a midshipman" to get the experience of it.

Owens said thousands of high school students invest hundreds of hours to get into the academy, all the while knowing that the possibility of having to move on to Plan B is far greater than getting to run with Plan A.

"I was very nervous," he said. "It's a very humbling experience because you think, 'I'm doing all of these things I'm supposed to do to get in.' Then you get put into a pool of thousands of people from all over the country who are doing the same things that you are doing — if not more than you're doing. Then there are also international students in the pool as well. We have students from all 50 states and all of the U.S. territories."

Winnowing down the number of candidates who apply to the Naval Academy is performed with "an overall look at who you are and what you do. They are looking at grades, test scores, physical fitness, the teams you are on, extracurricular activities, volunteer work. Pretty much anything you do, they are looking at it."

Going straight into the military from high school was an option, he said. "But I wanted to become an officer. I want to be a leader. I know you can become an officer when you enlist straight out of high school, but I wanted to do it this way and learn how to lead people."

Owens said his day begins with a mandatory 5:30 a.m. workout, followed by 7 a.m. formation and breakfast. Students head off to morning classes before coming together at noon for formation and lunch. Afternoon classes follow the meal break and then the scheduled activities of the day wrap up with a two-hour slot called "sports period" where people practice whatever team sport they've chosen.

"Everybody at the academy is required to play some kind of sport," Owens said, regardless of skill. "I think we have more than 30 sports to choose from. There are club sports, intramural sports. Everybody is doing something."

Some of Owens' academic courses this semester include Introduction to Ocean Systems, Physics and Differential Equations.

"This semester isn't terrible," he said. "I have 17 credit hours, but there are definitely people taking a lot more."

"Our summers are broken down into three blocks: We have two training blocks and a block for leave time. This past summer, I helped lead the summer seminar camp I attended when I was in high school, so that was pretty cool. My second training block  I spent on the USS Nimitz Aircraft carrier for about a week. That was a really cool experience."

Owens said all Naval Academy students attend the college on a full scholarship.

"Because everyone is on scholarship, you are required to pay that back after you graduate with five years of military service in either the Navy or U.S. Marine Corps," he said. "I plan to continue with the Navy."

Owens said from a young age he was exposed to military life and felt that it was his calling.

"I just wanted to serve," he said. "I've had a lot of family in the military. And most recently, my cousin went into the Army. I think that's what inspired me to do it. A couple of times I got to visit him and his wife while they were stationed at different bases. Just being around that was really cool. Especially, when you're in elementary school being on these bases and seeing all of the helicopters and tanks and obstacle courses. And then getting into high school, I joined the JROTC and that helped me see what it means to serve."

"Serving in the military isn't something that you do for yourself," Owens said. "You're doing it for other people and not for recognition or because you want a thank you. You do it because it's important to you. You have to protect your own and protect what we have and the freedoms we have."

"Without a doubt," he said, this same passion is evident in the many other young people attending the Naval Academy.

"Nobody goes through all of this to get into the Naval Academy for the fun of it. It's very hard to get in. It's got to be something that comes from deep inside of you. Something that you know it's what you want to do."

Owens said there is a 97 percent freshman retention rate and an 86 percent graduation rate at the Naval Academy.

"You get to be close to everyone in your company and in your class because we all go through Plebe summer together," he said. "Actually, everybody goes through everything together. You know what each (person) is going through, so it builds a lot of camaraderies."

"Often, individuals say they come for one reason or another, but they stay for the people," he said.

Among the many things he's learned so far at the Naval Academy, one key point is this: "You're not always as good as you think you are, and you can always do better," he said. "There's always something, even if it's small, that you can work to improve upon. You're never done improving."

"We learn at the academy that you should get comfortable but with uncomfortable," Owens said. "Things are always changing, not just at the academy, but around the world. So you've got to work to stay on top of things and be better," he said.

Despite the current global unrest, Owens said he never second-guessed his decision to join the military in service to his country.

"Regardless of what's going on or what's not going on around the world, I wanted to serve," Owens said. "That means whatever you're asked to do, you're going to step up and do it." 


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