By Katie MacBride, Staff Writer

Four years from now, you see a young man proudly walking toward you dressed in a freshly pressed, clean cut, white uniform with a matching white service cap to match. You recognize the naval officer’s service dress uniform and are quickly filled with a sense of respect.

As the familiar figure approaches, you can’t quite put a name to the face. And then it hits you:

That young officer is Parker Sylvia.

Sylvia plans to graduate college and begin a career as a naval officer in four years. Sylvia’s current plan is to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a full ride on the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Scholarship – unless he is accepted to the United States Naval Academy.

Word of acceptance to the Naval Academy won’t be heard till the end of May since Sylvia was waitlisted, but whichever school Sylvia ends up committing to, he’ll be put on a path to graduate as an officer.
Retired Captain Bob Farmer exposed Sylvia to naval life at a young age. Since that encounter, Sylvia has framed his life around the idea of serving his country.

“(Farmer) first introduced it to me and once I started getting that mindset – that that’s what I want to do – my parents and friends have really been pushing and helping me with this decision a lot,” Sylvia said.

Not only does Sylvia feel that he has what it takes to become a naval officer, Farmer is confident that Sylvia has the qualities to become a successful leader in what Farmer described as one of the Navy core values: honor and respect for his family, friends and peers.

“Parker has a presence about him which many leaders have, but not all, in that when he walks into a setting, venue or room, he immediately draws attention from others. Although not physically big in stature, he ‘stands tall’ and you get a sense that he cares about others and the impression that he makes,” Farmer said.

Sylvia has been able to grow his leadership skills throughout high school on and off the football and lacrosse field and even with his job as a lifeguard. Lifeguarding made Sylvia realize he could be an excellent leader and that he wanted to make a career in helping people.

“I’ve always wanted to protect people, even though that might sound kind of stupid,” Sylvia said. “I’m a lifeguard – even though it’s at a pool – I still feel like anytime anyone needed help I was the first person to jump in and be there to help.”

Determined to make a career out of his desire to help others, Sylvia started the lengthy application process to the Naval Academy his freshman year. It started off with a basic application – everything about you, your family and your financial status – followed by five to six long essays and an interview with a Blue and Gold Officer.

“Luckily there’s a Blue and Gold Officer that lives on this beach and he’s pretty much your mentor throughout the whole process,” Sylvia said. “This guy will pretty much tell you ‘you aren’t a qualified person, don’t continue’ or ‘you got this, I’m going to try to push for you.’ He said that he thinks I got this and he wanted to push for me.”

After the interview, candidates have to go through a fitness test and pass an intense physical, then get a nomination from at least one U.S. Senator or Congressman. Recommendations are very important.

“I was nominated by Sen. Thom Tillis and Congressman Walter B. Jones before he passed away,” Sylvia said. “It has been a long process throughout my whole high school career.”

All of Sylvia’s hard work to fill out that application has helped him earn the scholarship to UNC Chapel Hill, where he’ll be spending most of his time in the Navy ROTC program. While at college, Sylvia will complete his regular classes, but also have classes and training sessions with the ROTC program.

“It’s a lot of training, running, lifting, you’d do intramural sports, and shooting. So it’s like a huge club and it takes up half your time at college, but you also get full tuition at that college and you get a great education while you’re doing it, too,” Sylvia said.

During training, the program will put Sylvia in different divisions to see where he would fit best in the jobs or roles that personnel perform in the military.

“I want to try Special Forces. It sounds kind of stupid saying ‘I want to try it,’ but either way if I go to the Naval Academy or UNC Chapel Hill, they are kind of going to throw me in places to see where I best fit and I have a strong feeling I’m going to fit in well in the Special Forces unit,” Sylvia said.

Regardless of whichever college Sylvia ends up committing to, he’s looking forward to expanding his knowledge and discipline to become a naval officer.

“I want to serve my country, I want to have an influence, I want to know that what I’m doing is helping people, and then after I retire I want to be well set enough to have a family and enjoy my life with my kids and wife after the Navy,” Sylvia said.

Sophomore Katie MacBride can be reached at 21macbrideka62@daretolearn.org.