Marin Carter, a senior at Prairie High School, has been nominated by Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler and Sen. Patty Murray to attend West Point in New York, the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, and the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
Carter is enthusiastic about the recent news.
“I’m very excited about it,” said Carter. “It’s something I worked toward and it feels good to have that work pay off.”
Carter is a member of the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC).
“I’ve worked throughout my four years in high school to work my way up through the leadership board,” she said.
Carter was recently promoted to the cadet colonel rank in the program and said she has recently become the group adjutant, which assists the unit commander, during the first semester of the year.
Carter has so far applied to the U.S. Air Force Academy and U.S. Naval Academy. As a backup, she plans to apply to the U.S. Army and Navy ROTC if she doesn’t make it into one of the schools.
In college, she plans to study aeronautical engineering.
“I wanted to be a pilot and that was just one major I have seen be used to become a pilot,” Carter said.
JROTC differs from ROTC in that it’s “less intense” and prepares cadets for their next step in enlisting or joining an ROTC unit, according to Carter. On the other hand, ROTC is stricter and prepares people to join the military and prepare them for a life outside of school in general.
Part of her motivation to enlist was from her grandfather who served in the U.S. Navy and her great-grandfather who served in the U.S. Army.
“I wanted to serve my country and be of service to the other men and women who serve our country, wanting to pay back those who died and fought for the freedoms I’ve been able to have,” she said.
Her father, Josh Carter, is proud of his daughter’s achievements.
“We’re very excited for her,” he said. “We’re excited about the opportunity and the doors that would open for her. Marin is very shy in a lot of ways, so this is, in a way, outside of her comfort zone to be able to do the work necessary and to have the determination necessary to get something like this, so we’re very proud of her.”
Josh Carter also had many things to say about his daughter’s character and what makes her who she is.
“Marin always had a lot of grit,” he said. “She always liked to try new things and always liked to challenge herself by trying lots of different activities, always wanting to go out and explore, visit new countries, see new cultures, always asked a lot of different questions as to why things are the way they are.”
He recalled a trip Carter went on to Spain, Portugal and Morocco with her grandparents four years ago. She planned the entire trip and instead of hiring a tour guide to lead the way, his daughter did that.
“She researched the countries, figured out what the culture was and things they wanted to look at, and she just took care of it,” he said.
Josh Carter said both campuses are beautiful and “exciting places to be able to spend four years.”
Besides JROTC, Carter has been a youth leader at Columbia Presbyterian Church. She works at Taco Bell, has been a camp counselor, and loves to travel and spend time with her friends.
