Enzi nominates Ten Sleep student for U.S. service academies

Washington, D.C. – Ten Sleep student Lindsey Holiday made Wyoming U.S. Senator Mike Enzi's list of nominees to the United States service academies for 2021.

Holiday received nominations to the Air Force and Naval Academy. She is awaiting word on Senator John Barrasso's nominations and Congresswoman Liz Cheney's nominations as well.

Enzi nominated 19 Wyoming residents for the United States service academies for 2021. Last week, he announced his choices for the U.S. Air Force Academy, the Military Academy at West Point, the Naval Academy and the Merchant Marine Academy.

"As one of my final acts as a U.S. Senator, it is an honor to nominate these impressive Wyoming students who are driven by integrity and character," Enzi said. "Young people from Wyoming demonstrate their patriotism and willingness to serve their country by applying to our service academies every year. In addition to a quality education, the service academies will open doors and provide a unique set of skills that graduates will carry with them throughout their lives."

Nominees are chosen with the aid of an academy selection committee put together by Enzi. Receiving a nomination is the first step in the process of seeking an appointment to an academy. Once the nomination process is complete, each academy will make a final selection.

Holiday said selections should be made in the spring, likely in April.

"The nomination gets me one step closer to an appointment. I would be happy to be accepted to either one," Holiday said, but noted if given a choice, she would choose the Air Force Academy as both of her grandfathers served in the Air Force.

Holiday said she first became interested in the possibility of attending a military academy when she joined her sister Kelli Holiday on a tour of the Air Force Academy campus. "Right away I fell in love with the campus."

Later when she, her sister and her father attended a college cross-country meet where Air Force was competing, Holiday said she was impressed that the women's Air Force cross-country team saluted the flag during the national anthem.

Then in February she had the opportunity to apply for and later attend, albeit virtually, a summer academy at the Naval Academy. "I learned a lot. It was then I decided to apply to both the Naval and Air Force academies."

If selected to one of the academies, Holiday said she "definitely want to major or minor in Chinese. If I minor in Chinese I could major in political science or foreign area studies. Then hopefully I could become a public affairs officer and deal with international relations."

Her ultimate goal, she said, is to be a foreign diplomat or ambassador.

While attending a military academy is not for everyone, Holiday said she is up to the challenge.

"It will be a challenge but I think I can do it, I think I can be humble every day and approach challenges with a positive mindset and learn from it every day, just try my best every single day," she said.

Holiday said one of the things she loves about the military academies is the community and the structure. Regarding the community aspect, Holiday said, "Everyone is there for each other; everyone is going through it together. I feel like this is a big aspect of how people do it. They do things they never thought they could because they have a team. They are there for their team and the team is there for them."

Holiday added, "Even though I don't have an appointment yet, I am super grateful to Senator Enzi and his nomination committee for [the nomination]."

If by chance no appointment comes, Holiday is seeking success elsewhere, having already applied to Stanford and BYU-Provo, and is working on applying to Harvard, Dartmouth and the University of Wyoming.

She said if she ends up at a university she would apply to join Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC).

"I'm real excited about this. It's been a long and challenging process and learning experience. Again I want to thank Sen. Enzi and his nominating committee that I am one step closer," Holiday said.

She applied to the academies in August and then began the nomination application process in September. The nomination process included essays, regular application and interviews.

Lindsey is the daughter of Brian and Colleen Holiday.