From West Point To Annapolis
Eight borough high school students have been accepted into the United States Service Academies after receiving nominations from area congressional representatives, it was announced last week.
Representatives Grace Meng and Joe Crowley announced the acceptances of students from the communities they serve to one of the competitive United States Service Academies.
The students accepted from Queens were; Julia Hsu of Flushing, Elizabeth Kim of Flushing, Kytoh Li of Flushing, Jimmy Peraffan of Glendale, Yennifer Posada of Flushing, Francesco Rojas of Glendale and Daniel Roman of Maspeth, a press release from Meng’s office announced, Crowley also nominated students from his district, and recently announced that Corona resident Flower Landi had been accepted to the U.S. Naval Academy.
The four local youths, Landi Peraffan, Rojas and Roman attended Aviation High School Bronx Science High School, the Naval Academy Prep School and Villanova University, respectively. Peraffan and Rojas will enter as freshman, while Roman will transfer after one year in college. Peraffan and Rojas, will attend the United States Naval Academy, while Roman was accepted to the United States Military Academy at West Point.
Meng nominated 24 individual students that had, or would be completing their senior year in high school for the prized acceptances, communications Director Jordan Goldes said.
These institutions use an Armed Services-based training curriculum with traditional university-style humanities math and science classes added in to prepare young men and women to serve in all branches of the military. After four years, students that graduate will become commissioned officers in the active or reserve units of the U.S. Armed Forces or merchant marine for a minimum of five years. Students seeking acceptance into the academies must be nominated by their congressional representative.
“It is an honor to nominate these outstanding students from our community,” Meng said. “These young men and women are truly the future of our nation, guarding liberty and freedom, and I congratulate each and every one of them. I know they’ll make our country and our borough extremely proud.”
Meng held a reception to congratulate the students Monday, June 16 at VFW Post 3427 in Flushing.
Landi finished in the top 7 percent in her class in high school. She was awarded the United States Marine Corps Scholastic Excellence Award and the Women in Aviation Award. She is also a member of the National Honor Society, the Pegasus Society, and the Science Leadership Society, according to a press release announcing her acceptance.
“It gives me great pleasure to know that one of our borough’s best and brightest young leaders is on her way to the United States Naval Academy to serve our country,” Crowley said. “Flor has demonstrated an incredible commitment to everything she does, while challenging herself every step of the way. She is someone who strongly believes in giving back to our community and I have no doubt Flor will continue to make her family proud and our nation proud.”
