FCHS Senior Simon Burger has been appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
By Shane Scoggins
Publisher
GUMLOG – Simon Burger is among the top students in the 2021 senior class at Franklin County High School.
An honor student, he’s an officer in the Beta Club, a three-sport athlete and a member of the theatre program.
And now he’s been chosen as one of the elite students in the country.
Burger has been appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
Burger was notified of his appointment to the service academy March 16 just before the Senior Night ceremony for the Franklin County Lions soccer team.
Burger and friend Brice Carey were standing together when he got the news.
“We were both freaking out,” Burger said. “I was freaking out.”
Receiving his appointment has been a two-year process that included meeting with U.S. Congressional leaders, multiple applications and a physical test.
To attend one of the service academies, a student must be nominated by a U.S. Congressman, Senator, Governor, Vice President or President.
Burger applied with former U.S. Rep. Doug Collins’ office.
He had to fill out a preliminary application and went through two interviews with Collins.
The first interview was a basic interview about the academy and the process, while the second included four high-ranking military officers.
They wanted to know why Burger wanted an appointment and why he felt he should receive it.
Burger was notified late last year that he had been nominated for appointment.
“You have to have the nomination to ever get the appointment,” he said.
Only four out of 25 applicants received nominations.
After that step, he had to fill out the official application to the Academy and write two or three essays about his family’s military history, why he wanted to attend and his future plans.
Burger also had to submit a physical fitness test in which he had to complete timed tasks such as push ups, sit ups, pull ups, a shuffle drill and a mile run.
Coach Chuck Holland helped him with the test.
The rest of the application process included three letters of recommendation and a medical exam.
Then, Burger met by Zoom with a Blue and Gold Officer whose job it was to promote him for acceptance to the administration at the Naval Academy.
“Whatever she said worked,” Burger said. “She basically pitched me to the Naval Academy.”
After receiving word of his appointment on soccer Senior Night, Burger decided to announce it during the event.
Carey went to the press booth at Ed Bryant Stadium and wrote the news on Burger’s information sheet so that it would be read out during the ceremony.
Burger comes from a military family. His father is an Air Force veteran, his grandfather was in the Army and his great-grandfather in the Army Air Corps.
“We have a lineage of military history in my family,” he said, adding that he felt no pressure to follow in those footsteps. “That’s just what I wanted to do.”
Burger wanted to go to the Naval Academy because he has a goal to be a Navy Seal officer.
The Seals are the Navy’s special operations force. They are an elite force trained for missions in a variety of environments.
Burger said he likes the idea of pushing his limits and being the best he can be.
While graduating from the Naval Academy is not required to become a Seal, Burger said the academy will prepare him to be the best.
“I want to be the best Navy Seal I can be,” he said, “the best leader, the best person.”
The Naval Academy preaches leadership and teaches tactics and lifelong skills that he said he can’t get at other universities.
That experience will help him get selected to be a part of the elite Seal group.
“To me, I see it as another rung on the ladder of being the best Navy Seal,” he said.
Burger realizes that he will have to push himself, work and achieve to make his goal, but he said a regimented life with early mornings and hard work appeals to him.
He’ll leave the Academy as an officer.
Burger said that his diverse interests in high school – clubs, sports, theatre, working in the community and taking on leadership positions – helped him reach his goal of receiving an appointment.
“They’re not looking for someone that’s just smart and they’re not looking for someone that’s just a leader,” he said.
Burger will graduate from Franklin County High School May 21.
He will report to Annapolis in the first days of July for induction and then go through seven weeks of “Plebe Summer,” which is like basic training. It prepares new students for life at the Academy.
During those seven weeks, he’ll be allowed just three phone calls.
Classes begin in August.
“Right now, I’ve got three months left of enjoying it, making it last,” Burger said.
Burger thanked his parents, Jessica and Curtis Burger, his teachers and coaches for helping him.
“I couldn’t have done this by myself,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of people help me. I really can’t thank them enough for that.”