Who gets a letter nowadays? Back in 1977, that was the way. The only way I learned about college rejections or acceptances was by mail. No portals. No emails. No “check your status.” Just the quiet anticipation of the postal delivery and the weight of an envelope in your hands. My appointment to the United States Naval Academy arrived that way, too: A letter. A single piece of paper that changed everything. There were hurdles,…
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Getting In
Published January 19, 2026
I didn’t spend much time wondering whether I would get into the Naval Academy. In 1976, I assumed I would. That certainty wasn’t confidence so much as innocence—a product of youth, limited perspective, and a life that had unfolded almost entirely within the familiar boundaries of Annapolis, Maryland. This may sound strange now, but at the time, I never doubted the outcome. I was that young, that naïve, and that unaware of the larger world…
1 CommentBefore the Doors Opened
Published January 12, 2026
Growing up in Annapolis, Maryland, with the outline of the Naval Academy just on the other side of the Severn River, I never gave much thought to attending the Naval Academy. That’s the simplest truth. I roamed freely through buildings and fields, along the water, across spaces that felt familiar and unremarkable. The idea of attending the Academy never entered my mind. There were no women there, because there had never been women there. Since…
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