LoDuca fulfilling a dream for military

Growing up, Samuel Victor LoDuca had his sights set on joining the military. The dream for the T.R. Miller High School senior is close to becoming a reality with three nominations to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and a nomination and acceptance to the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland.

U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby recently announced he had nominated 58 students from across the state of Alabama to attend U.S. service academies, including LoDuca's nomination to West Point. LoDuca said he also received nominations from U.S. Sen. Doug Jones and U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne.

He has already been accepted to attend the U.S. Naval Academy, noting final decisions by the U.S. Military Academy have not been made.

"I've aways wanted to join the military," the 18-year old high school senior said. "During my college search I came upon West Point and I was intrigued. It's been a dream of mine for a while."

"When I got into high school I began to search on what I wanted to do with my life," LoDuca said. "I wanted to help people and what better way than being an officer in the military."

In order to be considered for a nomination to either the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Air Force Academy, the U.S. Military Academy or the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, students are required to complete the required ACT or SAT exams. They must also provide letters of recommendation, an official school transcript and a qualifying medication examination. Complete application forms can be found on Sen. Shelby's website.

Sen. Shelby also noted that even though LoDuca has received the nomination, U.S. Military Academy will make the final admission decision.

LoDuca said he's optimistic that he will be accepted in the U.S. Military Academy, but noted he already has an appointment to the naval academy.

He said he attended a week-long seminar at the U.S. Naval Academy and really enjoyed it but said there were more academic majors at the U.S. Military Academy.

"The Army is my goal," LoDuca said.

He said the high school's guidance counselor, Rebecca Edge, helped him a lot during the process and said he wouldn't have received the nomination without the letters of recommendation he received from his teachers and principal.