Lennox High School senior Madeline Loewe, 17, knows her plans after she graduates this May.
Her work to apply to the U.S. Naval Academy that started a year ago came to fruition at the end of January when U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson called her with the news while she was in school. The official notice came from Sen. Mike Rounds’ office.
“Congratulations to Madeline on receiving an offer of appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy,” Rounds said. “Madeline’s application to my office really stood out, and I was proud to nominate her as my principal nominee to the Naval Academy. She had previously attended the USNA Summer STEM camp and the Naval Academy Summer Seminar, where she made the decision that USNA is where she wanted to go after high school graduation. She has worked hard to meet the strict requirements our nation’s service academies expect from prospective students – she holds leadership positions in FFA, 4-H and her school newspaper, all while taking AP courses, running cross country, playing in her high school band and jazz band and volunteering in her community. We wish Madeline all the best at the Naval Academy!”
While attending the summer seminar, Loewe got a taste of what going to the academy would be like. While there she took the candidate fitness assessment. Once she came home, she worked on the rest of the application, filled out forms with the state’s congressional delegation and did interviews with nomination boards. Then she had to do some more medical exams and wait to hear if she made it.
“The waiting was kind of the toughest part. It was 2-4 weeks, about two and a half weeks in, I got a call in school from Rep. Johnson. He told me I was going to Annapolis,” Loewe said. “That was really great for me. I’ve wanted to do this since the eighth grade.”
With the appointment, Loewe will report to the U.S. Naval Academy June 25 for seven weeks of training before classes start in the fall. All parents of freshmen, or plebes, can visit them after the first six weeks. After four years of schooling at the academy, Loewe will have a minimum of five years of service in the Navy.
With her love of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), Loewe is thinking about majoring in chemistry or physics.
“I’ve been interested in those for a while and I think that if I pursued one of those paths I would be able to get a solid career if I retire from the Navy. I could go to grad school. I could go down another path,” she said. “I’m passionate about both of them.”
Loewe has shown an interest in science from a young age. She has gone to STEM camps and engineering camps. She has also done some job shadowing in those areas.
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