A notification appeared on his phone about an email from the Naval Academy, regarding the summer program. He clicked on the email, his heart pounding, and to his surprise, he was one of the students that ended up getting accepted.

Junior Zach Quattro will be attending the U.S. Naval Academy Seminar this summer. It is a week-long program where he will be living at the Academy and doing a bunch of activities there that will help him prepare to join the actual Academy, which is a four-year college.

“I’ve always been interested in serving and so from day 1, I signed up for emails and stuff from the college, and they told me all about it,” Quattro said. “I looked into it more online, and it was just something I really wanted to do, so I went for it.”

Growing up, Quattro has always been interested in serving and giving back to his country and was always so inspired by the people who fought for him and their country and wanted to do the same, especially for his mother.

“In 1973, my mom was actually rescued by the Navy from Vietnam during the Vietnam War, and they were Catholic, and we’re still Catholic, and they were moving children from the communist government, so the Navy really saved her life, and they are the reason I’m here today,” Quattro said. “Without the Navy, I don’t think I would be here today.”

With the Navy helping out his mom, Quattro knew he wanted to do the same to other people which was what led him to wanting to join the Academy Seminar over the summer, so when the application came out, he said he spent a lot of time working on it.

“You had to submit things like SATs, ACTs, GPA, class rank, your extracurricular activities, club sports, as well as a personal statement as to why you want to go to the Academy,” Quattro said.

After submitting his application, it came down to the waiting process. Quattro said that during the waiting process, he did feel a little bit of doubt on if he would get in, but was also confident that he had a chance to get in.

“There’s always that doubt like when you’re applying, I’m sure you know,” Quattro said, “but I was pretty confident that I would be able to get in, especially because I’ve been talking to the coach, Coach Gardner, for a year now, so they put in a good word for me which helped me get in.”

When Quattro got his results back saying he made it into the program, he said he was super pumped and super happy and knew all the time he put into his application paid off.

“I really wanted to do this because I went on a visit there in November, and I loved it, so I just wanted to get more of it, and I thought the summer program was a great way to do that, and I’m just really excited,” Quattro said.

When it comes to students being accepted, only 2,550 men and women get a spot in the program. What comes to Quattro’s mind is how good it feels knowing that he was one of the students that got picked.

“My hard work has been paying off these past three years in high school, and my whole life, but basically it feels rewarding,” Quattro said.

Quattro said that what he’s looking forward to in going to the Academy is just seeing what the classes are going to be like and what the school is all about.

“I’ve seen it a little bit while the school is running in November, but going there and seeing specific classes and drills and such and actually getting to participate in that stuff is what I’m really excited about,” Quattro said.

At the Academy, there are a ton of Navy and Army people overseeing the summer seminar. Quattro said that he feels inspired seeing all the Navy and Army there, knowing he’s going to be like them some day. 

“You just see them and their whole composure,” Quattro said. “The way they act, they show a lot of character and a lot of leadership. They are really smart guys who really care about their country and like to give back and serve others. I just feel really inspired.”

After completing the summer program, Quattro is planning on starting his application to join the actual Naval Academy after high school where he plans to do some sort of engineering.

“That consists of a whole bunch of things like congressional nominations, senator nominatons, so you have to go to interviews to get that,” Quattro said. “You have to put in applications to get that, and you have to go through a medical examination process. You have to pass that, as well as a physical test. Once you do all that, then the Academy decides if you get in or not, and hopefully I will.”