West Point cadet makes rounds at high schools

HOLLIS – Sixteen-year-old Ben Jacoby has started contemplating his future and he hopes it includes West Point. He’ll be 17 soon, has competitive grades and is intrigued by military special operations.

With his hopes set on a mechanical engineering major, he thinks he has what it takes to become a student at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, including passing the rigorous physical exams and getting a nomination from a member of Congress.

“It’d be a really good base to start a career as an Army Ranger,” Jacoby said.

His grandfather was a part of the Army’s Special Forces and he hopes to follow in his footsteps and one day become a Ranger.

“It’s a small group of guys who get to do something really big and special for America,” Jacoby said.

Enter Ryan Hopkins, a cadet at West Point, who visited Hollis/Brookline High School on Monday to talk to students interested in learning more about West Point and all it has to offer. This week, he was making the rounds at area high schools.

Hopkins, a 21-year-old from Nashua, is a senior and for the next five years, he will serve as an officer in the Army in exchange for his free education.

Unlike other 20-somethings nearing graduation, he need not worry about finding a job this summer in a sluggish economy.

Yet the five-year commitment comes with a price tag, namely risking his life as he serves his country during a time of war. This is a risk he said he understands well.

“I wasn’t blindly going into this,” Hopkins said. “It sinks in, I guess I’m settled with it,” he said when asked about the combat situations he may face.

With one older brother working to become an Army doctor, another brother already stationed outside of Baghdad, and almost four years under his belt at West Point, you might say military service runs in Hopkins’ family.

He said he is ready to put the skills and training he’s learned to use. He’s highly intrigued by aviation and after his five-year service commitment, he’s planning on shooting for the stars in the Army’s astronaut program.

“With a technical background in systems engineering and aviation, it gives me a good stepping stone to pursue something like that,” Hopkins said.

The endless opportunities available at West Point is what attracted Hopkins to the academy, and he explains that it’s just a small part in life’s bigger picture.

He is set to graduate this May with a degree in systems engineering and will attend flight school for a year to learn how to operate Black Hawk and Apache helicopters.

“You have to go out and lead a platoon of 20-40 guys,” Hopkins said. “Most 21-year-olds don’t get an opportunity like that right out of the gate.”

As Hopkins made the rounds to area high schools this week meeting with students like Hollis/Brookline’s Jacoby, that’s exactly what he told them.

Julianne Hanckel can be reached at 594-5833 or jhanckel@nashuatelegraph.com.