Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion Page 37
STORY BY :
PFC WALKER SELDON
My journey started when I was a senior in high school. Planning my
future, I boiled my choices down to two paths: play football in college,
or go to the United States Army. As my last year in high school went
by, I started to steer away from playing football in college because I
didn’t want to risk permanently injuring myself. Towards the end of
my first semester, I decided that I wanted to enlist in the United
States Army. I particularly chose this route because I wanted to be
an independent man and establish my own foundation for myself
without the financial and physical assistance of my parents. Before
my basic training report date August 12, 2012, my older brother and
cousin, Sergeant Marcus Seldon and Private First Class Zach Williams, gave me some tips and advice on expanding my career in the
military, and one of those tips was attending the United States Military Academy at West Point to become an officer. When they mentioned this option to me, I immediately did my personal research on
the school and what steps to take in order to attend. Since I was
going to basic training really soon, I decided to put my work on hold,
and as I went through basic training the interest of attending went
faint pulling my mind away from it, but I never dropped it completely.
After graduating basic training, I went on to AIT training where I was
taught how to perform my job. This is when the dream became an
inspiration to me.
During one Friday, I was sitting in my platoon office with my
co-worker, Specialist Dominique Stevenson, and my platoon leader,
First Lieutenant Tramaine Oden. We were all talking about how the
football season was going, and SPC Stevenson just happened to
mention my high school football highlight tape to First Lieutenant
Oden.
Following the
mention, he went on his
computer and took a look
at it. He asked me why I
did not go to college and
play football. When I told
him my reason, he responded with a respectful
answer. He then pulled
up a link on the internet
which took him to a page
dealing with The United
States Military Academy
at West Point. He told me
“You should really consider applying for this
college.” When he told
me that, I realized that
this option was becoming
a dream for me.
This
opportunity that was sitting in the back of my
head was becoming a
reality. I also realized that
playing football again be-
came a reality as well.
First Lieutenant Oden and I gathered up our information
on the admissions process and the steps that were needed to be
taken in order to get accepted. Once we gathered it all together,
we took it up to our First Sergeant, First Sergeant Kevin Frazier
and our Company Commander, Captain Kristen Jones. When
they heard the news on my decision, they told me that in order to
go any further in the process I would have to stand out from my
peers and earn it. From then on, I was doing everything I could
to show them that I was worthy of this opportunity. I went on to
win the Soldier of the Month board, lead my team to first place in
the our Gauntlet Physical Fitness Challenge, receive 2 Battalion
Coins of Excellence, and get nominated above other Specialists
in our unit to attend WLC which was later terminated due to me
being only a PFC. Once I earned their trust and support, they
began to help in the admissions process. The admissions process is different from other colleges in the nation. It is very lengthily, involving a lot of components. Some of the main components
were an SAT/ACT score of 500 or better in each section, a Candidate Fitness Assessment that determines your physical fitness,
a nomination fro