More than average

Jun. 28—Green Hill High School graduate and incoming freshman at the United States Air Force Academy Christian Taylor has always had one goal in mind.

"I don't want to be average," Taylor said. "The Air Force kind of gave me the best opportunity to push myself and do something bigger for myself while not being average."

Taylor decided to go to the Air Force Academy because of the opportunities it would grant him.

"It gave me the best opportunity to do everything I wanted," Taylor said. "It gave me the opportunity to play Division I baseball and then also earn a work classification at the Air Force. Most of all, it also gave me an opportunity to give back and serve my country."

Taylor was recruited to play baseball at the Air Force Academy, which led to him taking a tour of the campus.

"I got a call from the one of the assistant baseball coaches, and he gave me the opportunity to come out and tour the campus and go over his recruiting pitch," Taylor said. "We flew out there and got a tour. Just talking to the (students) and looking at the campus, I kind of like fell in love with the campus and the kids and the opportunity that that they presented. After thinking about it, looking into it and looking over my options, I knew that was the best fit for me."

Before being recruited, attending the Air Force Academy wasn't what Taylor envisioned for his life after high school. His college experience will be quite different from the average incoming freshman.

"Freshman year is going to be tough," Taylor said. "You have to wear your military uniform basically at all times on campus. Once you go off campus, you have to wear your full dress (uniform). There's these, these highlighted gray concrete strips that you have to run as a freshman from class to class. That's a little bit different. You have to acknowledge upperclassmen, and you have to know their names and their rank."

Every year, 12,000 students apply to the United States Air Force Academy. Out of those applicants, only 1,000 are chosen.

"One of the things that the coach told us when we were there is if we get in, we'll be part of the 1% (of Americans in the Air Force)," Taylor said. "That's something that's kind of stuck with me. It's just super awesome that I'll be part of the 1% of the nation and doing something bigger than myself."

Taylor has been preparing to attend the academy physically and by focusing on his studies.

"For the last few years, I'd wake up early before school and put in time studying for the ACT (college entrance exam) so I could get the score I needed, and then, I just focused on grades," Taylor said. "Sometimes, I'd have to stay in on the weekends instead of going out and to just make sure my homework was in check."

Taylor's campus tour is also what peaked his interest in flying and aviation.

"Going to the Academy, they gave us the opportunity to get on the (flight) simulators," Taylor said. "It was simulating flying the fighter jet, and for me, that was super, super awesome to be able to do that. That kind of like stoked a little bit of an interest."

The simulation made Taylor feel like he was actually there.

"You put on a VR (virtual reality) headset, and you're immersed," Taylor said. "You start off on the runway, and they have all the controls in front of you. You'll start by taking off. The simulator is super cool. It moves around with your body, so it feels like you're actually flying real jets."

Taylor has been playing baseball since he was around 6 years old.

"It's always been my dream to play baseball at a Division I level," Taylor said. "It definitely helps getting into the Academy because of (learning) time management, performing under pressure."