SPHS Graduate Sam Pershall Heads to Naval Academy

For Severna Park High School graduate Sam Pershall, the reason he decided to attend the Naval Academy and eventually serve his country is rooted deep in his hometown.

Pershall will participate in Induction Day at the academy on Thursday, and then will begin his post-high school career in Annapolis as he works towards a career in the Navy.

“I’ve wanted to go there all my life,” Pershall said. “As I got older I realized service to my country was important. Growing up I have never been hungry, I live in a good neighborhood, have a good education, and I feel like I needed to give back to the people who made that possible.”

While Pershall briefly considered other academies, a few years before he entered high school is became increasingly clear to him that the Naval Academy is where he belonged.

However, wanting to get in and actually getting in were two different things. Pershall said the process of applying to the Naval Academy was extremely long. It involved applying to the school, getting nominations from both a senator and a congressman, plus numerous physical and medical screenings. 

“I don’t think there was a day that went by where I didn’t think about 'what if I don’t get it,'” Pershall said. “It was constantly on my mind.”

The day before Thanksgiving, when Pershall’s relatives were all gathered at his house, his mom called him out onto the patio and handed him “a very thin envelope.”

“I opened the envelope and saw the ‘congratulations’ and hugged my mom who cried a little bit,” Pershall said. “Then I came inside and told my family. It was the perfect day to get my acceptance—to be surrounded by my family and everything.”

While at the Naval Academy, Pershall will study engineering and hopes to become a pilot. He will also participate in indoor and outdoor track and cross-country. Pershall said he hopes that experience gives him an even wider group of friends, and a greater opportunity to build relationships.

As Pershall spends his final days before leaving for Annapolis in the Severna Park home he grew up in, he is surrounded by the lifestyle that inspired him to want to serve his country in the first place. He thinks about Induction Day with a small onset of nerves, and lofty expectations for his future.

“I am looking forward to meeting like-minded people and building some of the strongest friendships I will ever have,” Pershall said. “I will be taking part in something very few people have the opportunity to do, and I just feel very humbled for that.”