This Monmouth-Roseville senior 'enjoys a challenge' and will get one in Air Force Academy

MONMOUTH – Some high school seniors may have waited until very recently to start working on their post-graduation plans, filling out last-minute college or job applications.

For Monmouth-Roseville High School senior Andrew Gunn, such procrastination wasn’t an option. If he was going to make his college dream a reality, he needed to get the ball rolling two years ago.

“It’s such a process,” he said of his application to the United States Air Force Academy, just north of Colorado Springs, Colorado. “There are so many people I have to thank. I feel like I was pushed along the whole way by all the support I received.”

Recently, Gunn’s dream was recognized publicly, as an official acceptance video from his Air Force evaluator was played during M-R’s awards night ceremony.

Gunn called working with his evaluator “a really good experience,” but that came later in his two-year application process. The first part occurred between his sophomore and junior years and, even at that early date, began “just in time.”

Gunn needed to get an endorsement from a legislator serving the Monmouth area, and he pursued one from U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, who serves the state’s 17th congressional district, as well as from U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin.

“That part of it takes a long time,” said Gunn. “But that process was fun, getting to meet Cheri Bustos.”

Gunn passed an initial endorsement of a panel of five military-connected judges and completed “a ton of personal essays about my life experiences and why I wanted to serve.” He also needed several others endorsements, so he approached select M-R teachers to write letters of recommendation, including two who made a major impact on his high school experience: English teacher Michael Bosomworth and his football coach, Jeremy Adolphson.

Gunn has 'a positive mindset'

Adolphson had already spoken on the record about Gunn’s role as a key contributor to the Titans’ football success last fall. In his letter, he commented on Gunn’s other attributes.

“Andrew has a positive mindset that will make him a valuable asset to any organization,” wrote Adolphson. “He is the type of person who enjoys a challenge and will excel with the responsibilities and requirements for the job. ... He is the type of person I would want to work with, as well as someone who would be a positive influence on others.”

The letter wasn’t Adolphson’s only contribution. He also helped Gunn fulfill the grueling physical requirements asked of Air Force applicants.

“He helped me a ton with a game plan for my push-ups and pull-ups,” said Gunn. “It was just little things, but they added reps and helped me improve my score. He also proctored my mile run. We thought about it really logically, breaking it down into shorter distances, and he kept letting me know how my pace was.”

“Cadets face a rigorous schedule of academics, athletics, military training, high expectations and strict rules of conduct,” reads a statement on the Air Force website. “Cadets are constantly challenged physically and mentally.”

And that’s OK with Gunn.

Lifelong interest in military

“As long as I can remember, I’ve had an interest in the military,” he said. “My dad instilled in me a deep respect for all things military related.”

So, years ago, when Gunn received college information in the mail from West Point, he “started looking at military academies as an option. The Air Force had a great location, and what I wanted most was flying planes. It was the option that fit me best.”

All the endorsements, physical preparation and assistance from others – which he said included his parents, Ian and Katy Gunn – helped Gunn make his case for acceptance, but he said it ultimately came down to a two-hour interview with his evaluator.

“She’s an Air Force lieutenant and, really, everything was up to that one person,” said Gunn. “The Air Force wanted to figure out everything about me. They went really deep and asked me a lot of questions. She is probably the reason I got accepted. Now that I’ve been through that, any other conversation I have feels much more tame.”

Gunn reports at end of next month

Gunn, who reports to the academy June 23 for six weeks of basic training, described what a typical day will look like for him once the fall semester starts in August.

“We wake up at 5 a.m. and do whatever physical training they have planned for us that day,” he said. “Classes start at 8 a.m. Then we gather to march to lunch, which is something I remember seeing and being impressed by when I visited the academy when I was in junior high. I thought that was pretty cool. Everybody is required to be part of a club or organization, and those happen at 3 p.m. Then there’s dinner and homework and lights out at 11.”

A member of M-R’s band, Gunn is considering joining the Air Force Academy Cadet Drum and Bugle Corps, which would allow him to travel with the school’s Division I football team.

“It’s like attending a normal college in some aspects,” said Gunn, who is required to serve in the military for five years after he graduates. “Math is my best subject, so I’m thinking about studying finance. My main goal is to be a pilot, so I might look into aeronautical engineering, too.”

Gunn will likely get involved with the academy’s Soaring club, which would eventually land him the seat in a one-man plane.

“That’s not so intense a setting” as helming one of their larger planes, said Gunn. “That’ll be the first time I fly anything. I’ll probably wait until after I graduate to get my pilot’s license. If I want to become an Air Force pilot, that’s a 10-year process. I can spend the next few years figuring out which route I want to go.”

Although Gunn will be “challenged physically and mentally” every day, he can actually take some time now to relax and enjoy college life. That ever-present deadline clock of the past two years is no longer ticking quite as loudly.

This article originally appeared on Galesburg Register-Mail: M-R’s Gunn set to begin Air Force Academy adventure