Xavier Ellis has struggled with his grades since he first stepped into a classroom, consigning himself to being a C student. But that all changed the summer before his junior year in high school when he visited the United States Military Academy West Point.
“I was in New York visiting my sister at Ithaca College, the same weekend West Point had a shooting competition,” Ellis, 17, stated on his West Point application. “I am not sure if awesome is the right word, but the entire time I was on campus I couldn’t stop smiling.”
The smile disappeared when he realized his grades weren’t high enough, so he applied himself to schoolwork like never before and in his junior year raised his GPA from 2.44 to 3.2, keeping his West Point dream alive.
