‘Super shocked’ Virginia high school student Zach Wagner accepted into 4 military academies

CHESAPEAKE, Va. — A Virginia high school student who was top of his class has been accepted into four military academies.

Zach Wagner, class president at Grassfield High School, began getting his academy nominations last August.

“I was just super shocked, I had just finished taking pictures of my seniors and I got the email from my dad and West Point letting me know, and I was just super excited and ecstatic ” remembers Wagner.

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Not only was Wagner accepted to West Point, the Naval Academy, the Air Force Academy, and the Coast Guard Academy, but he also received ROTC scholarships for the Army, the air force and navy.

“It was super exciting, but it made the decision a lot harder to make in the end, with so many different opportunities,” Wagner said.

Wagner said his father, a Naval Academy graduate who served for 30 years, inspired him to pursue a military career. However, he did not follow in his father’s footsteps. He will attend Princeton in the fall on an Army ROTC scholarship.

Wagner says he plans to study economics and pursue a career in intelligence within the military.