Read about how Notre Dame and its mission helped lead to success in serving America in the U.S. Navy.
Maya McPartlin NDP’16 visited with current NDP students on Dec. 3 to discuss the U.S. Naval Academy and careers in the Navy.
Case in point: The U.S. Naval Academy Class of 2020 had more than 16,000 applicants and admitted about 1,200. If history proves accurate, 1,100 will graduate at the end of their third year. Of those, 240 will select Navy pilot as their next step and about 80 will enter jet training. By the time the Class of 2020 reaches the fleet, maybe 50 ultimately will be classified as fighter pilots.
McPartlin will graduate from the academy in May of 2020.
"As a junior at the Naval Academy, I had to take a test, which was similar to the ACT, to make sure that I could qualify as a pilot," said McPartlin, who recently stopped by her high school alma mater to talk to students about careers in the Navy. "Fortunately, I was able to get scores that allowed me to put 'Navy pilot' as my top choice in my list of preferences."
She said the entire senior class at the academy found out their service assignments the week before Thanksgiving and "that's when I discovered that I was going to be a Navy aviator!"
However, according to McPartlin, who also is a member of the Navy's varsity rowing team, flying for the U.S. Navy wasn't always high on her bucket list.
"I first got an inkling that I wanted to join the aviation community only after coming to the academy," she said. "It hasn't always been a lifelong dream, but it was definitely something I had an interest in. I was able to shadow a helicopter squadron at a naval base in Coronado, Calif., this past summer and after talking to the pilots in that community, I knew then that it definitely was what I wanted to pursue as a career."
McPartlin will be attending flight school at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida, and she believes it will take about a year and a half to two years to complete. Meanwhile, she plans to graduate from the academy in May of 2020.
McPartlin also believes that she wouldn't be where she is currently — on the doorstep of an elite aviator school — if it wasn't for Notre Dame Prep.
The Boeing T-45A Goshawk is typically used by the U.S. Navy as a trainer aircraft.
McPartlin also noted the academic discipline at NDP has served her very well so far at the academy.
"Getting good grades and having good study habits were things that I was accustomed to at NDP," she said. "Now the academy has allowed me to further my growth in becoming an 'upright citizen,' which I practice daily in the interactions I have with civilians, classmates and officers here."
Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org.
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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. Notre Dame Preparatory School enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower schools enroll students in pre-kindergarten through grade eight. All three school are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org