Class of 2024 – Page 2 – Virginia Military Institute

Behind the Balance: Kyle Webster ’24 — Keydet Lacrosse

Virginia Military Institute’s cadet-athletes have to juggle cadet life, heavy academic course loads, and their NCAA Division I sport. Committed to both academic and athletic pursuits, balancing their rigorous schedule in both sports and school requires a certain level of commitment and discipline. Behind the Balance is a series that focuses on those cadet-athletes and how they handle the hurdles of the day-to-day.

Leadership and regiment have been ingrained into Kyle Webster ’24 since beginning his time at Virginia Military Institute. Choosing a military college wasn’t his first choice, but with an offer to play lacrosse and a best friend from home also attending, those were big incentives.

He’s been playing lacrosse since he was 7 years old.

“I fell in love with it,” he said. “It’s a fast pace. People say it’s the fastest game on a field. The physicality and the thrill of scoring a goal or picking up a big ground ball is just awesome.”

Going to high school in Alexandria, Virginia, he played in one of the top three high school conferences in the country. The sport was incredibly popular in his area, but he was the first in his family to play it.

For his 1st Class year at VMI, Webster was voted as one of the team captains, alongside A.J. Stamos ’24 and Diego Markie ’25.

“I’m anywhere from motivation of the team to just checking in on guys,” he said about his role as captain. “I try to make sure that I have a great relationship and a friendship with every single person on the team. I can be that guy that anyone can come to for their problems or just want to talk. I’m trying to lead on the field, by example, and play the right way.”

Webster and Stamos grew up and have played lacrosse together since they were kids. Webster said it’s been a big motivation, having a friend like that on the team.

“It was kind of cool to have that full circle moment, since we’ve both played lacrosse together since we were seven. Then we come to college and we’re both captains,” he said.

In his last semester, he perfected the balance of academics and athletics. Although, he admits it was challenging.

Cadet-athletes at VMI not only have their responsibilities with their selected sport but cadet duties on top of that. Cadets are also required to take physical fitness classes twice a week, participate in ROTC all four years, prepare for room and uniform inspections, practice for parade, guard duty, and more.

For him, time management is what helps him. He’s also doing schoolwork between classes, which helps.

“I just make time for the important things,” he said. “This is a school, most importantly, so you must find time to do academics. When I was younger, I was taking more credits. I struggled at times.”

Now that he’s about to graduate, managing his time has become easier. Plus, he’s not taking a heavy load — he’s currently enrolled in 15 credits, compared to his average of 18 credits.

Days are regimented, as to be expected. He gets up at 6:45 a.m., eats, and heads to one morning class Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. After class and until lunch, he’ll do schoolwork. Then after lunch he has three classes back-to-back, which brings him right to practice at 3:30 p.m. Practice is over at 6 p.m., so he’s off to dinner then back to his room for studying and then bed. He aims to go to bed at 10:30 p.m. every night.

“Sleep is very important,” he said.

Tuesdays and Thursdays he has one class in the morning and the rest of the day is spent working out, doing schoolwork, or hanging out before he needs to head to practice. Practice is six days a week, he said.

The economics and business major doesn’t plan on commissioning after graduation. Instead, he recently accepted a job with a government contracting firm out of the D.C. area called SteerBridge Strategies where he will be a project analyst.

He said his time at VMI has been a humbling experience, especially coming in thinking you’re the best. He says the first day, you find out you’re not, but instead you experience unity between your brother rats.

“I think that one of the best aspects of VMI is that everyone gets humbled, and you’re part of something bigger than yourself,” he said. “I feel like I’ve grown in that aspect, to see that it’s bigger than what the eye sees.”

Webster also found that accountability is a big factor, along with structure.

“Having a routine and structure in your life is very important. I feel like this place gets you ready for the real world … you have to be productive and efficient. That’s the main thing that you learn here at VMI,” he said.

Behind the Balance: Devin Butler ’24 — Keydet Basketball

Devin Butler ’24 doesn’t remember a time when there wasn’t a basketball in his hands. He may not have been able to dribble it as a baby, but it was there.

“Ever since I can remember, I’ve always had a basketball,” the English major said.

His father was a basketball player, then his brother grew up loving it. Once Butler was born, he said his brother was determined to make him a teammate. So, by the time he could walk, he could dribble a ball.

While attending The Phelps School outside Philadelphia for high school, Butler wasn’t too interested in attending a military college like Virginia Military Institute. Coaches from VMI had been reaching out to his high school coaches, but he didn’t bite.

“After the visit I could see how connected the people were here, especially the team,” he said. “It was totally different from any other visit I did. I had no question about it, I chose VMI.”

This semester — his final one — he’s at 12 credits. Although it’s a lighter load than other semesters, he still has booked days throughout the week.

“It does get tough here because of the military aspect of the school, along with academics and basketball,” he said. “I try to find time to pray and center myself religiously, and then to meditate to really be in tune with myself and appreciate all the madness that comes along. Because school is being paid for; I’m totally blessed. I couldn’t have it any better. So sometimes I need to just take time to stop and appreciate that and live in the moment really.”

Getting up at 6 a.m. daily to hit the weight room by 6:20 a.m. is the norm for Butler. From there, it’s breakfast and onto classes. By noon, he’s got a break where he can grab lunch to-go from Crozet, take a quick nap, then back to classes until about 2 p.m. From there, he’ll head back to the weight room for an hour, then do some skill work for almost an hour before practice starts at 4 p.m. Then it’s on to dinner and back to barracks. He’s usually doing schoolwork a bit at night but has been keeping up with studies during his regular day.

Devin Butler about to shoot a basketball during a Virginia Military Institute men's basketball game.

He said being on the basketball team really helps with any stress the day brings.

But now, he’s more nostalgic. Finishing up his last semester, he feels like he can look back and appreciate the trials and tribulations he endured at VMI because it allowed him to become the leader he is now.

“Now that I’m a 1st Class cadet, I can sit back and appreciate what the school has done for me, how much it has allowed and helped me to grow,” he said. “I’ve become a better leader. This team, this environment has kind of just sprang me into the leader I want to be when I leave here.”

VMI has helped Butler’s confidence tremendously, he said. From starting as a rat, breaking out and becoming a 4th Class cadet, to receiving rings, and heading for matriculation.

“All the things that you have to go through here … you have to find when everybody in the world tells you that you’re nothing, you have to find within yourself to say no, I am something,” he said. “So that was kind of my thing throughout the Ratline. I was like, it’s not going to break me. I know I’m worth something. Then as the years have gone by, I’ve seen that resiliency grow. And no matter the issue, no matter the challenge that VMI has thrown me, I’ve been able to kind of take it on.”

That dedication and resiliency is something he can take with him outside of VMI. After graduating, he plans on attending graduate school.

“That battle helped me to spring past my peers, because I’ll be able to take the adversity that life throws at you and know how to handle it,” he said.

Behind the Balance: Tyler Mousaw ’24 — Keydet Wrestling

In first grade, Tyler Mousaw ’24 came home from school with a letter offering a chance to choose between two sports — basketball and wrestling. Mousaw said wrestling seemed like the more enjoyable option, and the rest is history.

“It’s not like any other sport,” he said. “It’s a team sport and an individual sport. When you’re out there, it’s kind of just you and just something about it that’s fun.”

The economics and business major plans on working in the private sector after graduating in the spring. He chose Virginia Military Institute because he needed to attend somewhere he could grow. He said he wasn’t a stellar student in high school, so he wanted a place that could push him to be the best he could be.

“I just needed discipline,” he said. “I knew I needed to go somewhere where I would grow up kind of fast. VMI’s done that for me.”

The cadet regimen has worked out for Mousaw. Plus, being a D1 athlete on VMI’s wrestling team has enabled him to find ways to balance everything.

He said he’s good at compartmentalizing.

“I make the most of my time. When it’s wrestling time, it’s wrestling time. I don’t really think about academics or anything. When I’m not wrestling, I try to get my schoolwork done as quickly as possible so I can relax and do other things.”

His days usually start with waking up at 5:45 a.m. and getting to Cormack Hall for early practice, which is usually weightlifting. If he still has schoolwork to complete, he’ll return to his room and finish that before heading to breakfast, then onto class. Around noon, he’ll have a break for lunch, but he’s back to classes until about 2 or 3:45 p.m. depending on the day. Following that, it’s back to Cormack for more practice until about 6 p.m.

Tyler Mousaw wrestling for Virginia Military Institute.

Mousaw usually gets a break after practice before formation at 7:30 p.m. and then onto supper, so he opts to have some downtime. But after supper, it’s back to the books.

Wrestling starts immediately upon arriving to post in the fall.

“Pretty much as soon as we get back to school in the beginning of the year, we start preseason [training]. It’s a lot of running and working out getting back in shape,” he said.

He said the team stayed in Lexington over winter furlough to have two-a-day practices. His season starts in November and goes until about March. Although that may seem rigorous, his favorite part about attending VMI is that he gets to be a part of the wrestling team.

“It’s just the bonds with the teammates … it’s a pretty tight bond,” he said. “Everybody’s going out there and putting it on the line in front of everybody and it’s a battle. You develop a respect for everybody.”

But VMI has instilled something bigger in him — honor.

“The biggest thing is the Honor Code. It’s just something good to live by,” he said. “Don’t lie, cheat, or steal. You’re setting yourself up pretty good right off the bat. My maturity before I came here, I was just like a normal high school kid. You know, a little bit rebellious. Then I came here and it forced me to grow up quickly. I think I’m more attuned to dealing with different situations. I’m more adaptable, and just ready to be done and get into the workforce.”

Behind the Balance: Katie Grochalski ’24 — Keydet Rifle

Katie Grochalski ’24 was taught to shoot a simple action revolver at the age of 8 by her father. She grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania and by the age of 12, she was taught to shoot a .22. By 14, she was allowed to handle any gun that was in the house, if she were to lock it back up and demonstrate proper gun safety.

“I grew up shooting groundhogs on my property and raccoons because we had chickens,” she said.

She always wanted to hunt with her father, but she’s not a morning person. Instead, she started diving into other activities. Her initial aspiration was to be a fashion designer — it’s something she had said since kindergarten. She loved creating, sewing, and drawing. She also loved to dance. So, when she announced she wanted to be a Navy SEAL, it was a shock to her parents.

“My parents were completely blindsided because I never told them I wanted to be a SEAL,” she said.

The career change was prompted by a teacher when she was in the third grade who would bring in the newspaper every Wednesday. On one Wednesday, the headline regarded SEAL Team Six taking down Osama Bin Laden.

The self-proclaimed lazy swimmer veered off the path of wanting to be a SEAL and settled on the Marine Corps by the time she reached the seventh grade. Grochalski, a psychology major, will be commissioning into the Marines after graduation.

“All my friends from public school were Navy, Air Force, Army, so, I just rounded it out as a Marine,” she said. “And ever since seventh grade, this is all I ever wanted to do.”

She said her family tried to persuade her to do something else, but her mind was set.

“My response to them was whenever I turn 18, I’m going to do it anyway, so either you love me and you’re with me or you don’t talk to me,” she said. “I’ve been on this journey ever since. I taught myself how to run and taught myself how to do pull ups. I was a dancer growing up, so learning from elegance and grace into being a warfighter was completely different.”

Joining Junior ROTC in high school, she first started with drill, but was drawn to the sport of rifle.

“I was a year behind most people on the team because I joined as a sophomore, instead of as a freshman. But man, I loved it,” she said. “Doing rifle gave me a sense of stability, taught me how to really be a person and look at myself. I had an inferiority complex, and rifle taught me how to calm myself down and think through things properly.”

Junior and senior year of high school, Grochalski transferred to Massanutten Military Academy, which is modeled after Virginia Military Institute. It seemed like the proper track — after high school to attend VMI.

She found that rifle served as her own personal time, something that she could devote only to herself. Any big decisions or thoughts occurred at the range, she said. The solid black powder, the popping of rifles, it had a calming effect on her, so much so that she could even fall asleep at the range.

“I think the discipline is fantastic. It does a lot with your mentality and mindfulness. It teaches you how to calm yourself to the point where I can tell my heart rate. I can sit here and physically feel my body shake because my heart rate,” she said.

Her time at a military high school also instilled discipline, along with her training on the range.

“I had to eat the same thing every single day. I had to have three meals a day. I had to make sure I worked out the same way every single day. How to be a level head, because I was not. Every Marine is a rifleman, so why not start early?”

Katie Grochalski shooting a rifle as part of the Virginia Military Institute's rifle team.

On the team, in the classroom, and beyond

She got involved with VMI’s rifle team by coming to a rifle match at VMI while she was a senior in high school. She toured the school a bit and was introduced to the rifle coach Lt. Col. Bill Bither. Her trip was cut short due to an impending snowstorm, but when she returned to VMI as a rat, she met with Bither and was on the team.

Grochalski has a stacked schedule, which includes waking up daily at 6:30 a.m. for formation at 7 a.m. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, she’s the drummer for formation, so she has to head to the band room prior to formation. After that, she heads back to her room, and if there’s time before her 10 a.m. class she’ll nap. She has three or four classes a day, depending on the day, but wraps up around 3 p.m. She has an hour after classes before practice for rifle begins at 4 p.m.

“I’ll have an hour of me time to get things done; do any miscellaneous things,” she said.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, she lifts after she shoots at the range. By 9:30 p.m., she’s onto rifle formation.

Wednesdays and Fridays, she teaches ballroom dance in the evening for the Ballroom Dance Club.

“I love dancing,” she said. “It’s one thing that really ties me to home. It helps me handle my homesickness.”

To balance it all, she said it’s best to come to the understanding that you can’t control everything.

“Understand that you can’t control it all,” she said. “But with all my stuff, I’ve learned how to manage bit-by-bit over the years from first going to regular high school, then to military high school, onto here. Having that stress inoculation helps. It really helps.”

Midshipmen Moments: Sebastain Ramirez ’24

Sebastian Ramirez ’24 became fond of the challenging lifestyle that came with attending Virginia Military Institute after attending an open house. He said the high standards that cadets endured on a daily basis was something he wanted.

“I wanted to go through the system myself and experience a transformation from such an intense and demanding environment,” he said.

The applied mathematics major was originally enrolled in the Air Force ROTC for the first two years of his cadetship. Towards the end of his 3rd Class year, he had a change in heart and decided that he wanted to try to become a Marine.

“I admired the leadership philosophies of the Marine Corps and the unrelentingly high standard that is expected of all Marines,” he said.

He said the standard of the Naval services, especially the Marine Corps, is one of the highest of all the branches, which made it something he was drawn to. He also saw similarities in VMI’s culture and that of the Marine Corps — intimate and sacred.

“The mission of the Marine Corps is unique; we are called upon at a moment’s notice with the expectation of fighting and winning in any clime or place,” he said. “The thing that makes me most proud to be a Marine is the legacy. To have the privilege of carrying on the legacy of the Marine Corps is indescribable. I look forward to serving and supporting Marines and feel privileged to be given the opportunity to lead.”

He’s currently contracted as a student naval aviator with hopes of flying the F/A-18 or F-35.

The Naval ROTC program provides two programs in which cadets can enroll in — U.S. Navy or U.S. Marine Corps.

The mission is to develop midshipmen mentally, morally, and physically, and to instill the highest ideals of duty, honor, and loyalty to commission them as Navy or Marine officers. The NROTC program fosters high-level responsibilities of command, citizenship, and government.

This past summer, Ramirez attended Officer Candidate School (OCS) at Marine Corps Base in Quantico. OCS is to educate and train officer candidates in Marine Corps knowledge and skills within a controlled and challenging environment. The school evaluates and screens individuals for the leadership, moral, mental, and physical qualities required for commissioning as a Marine Corps officer.

Some trainings and activities included: combat conditioning, obstacle courses, close order drill, academic classes and discussions, fire team assault course, leadership reaction course, stamina and endurance course, small unit leadership evaluation, and daily platoon staff evaluation.

The 10-week training was focused on small unit leadership in a stressful and fatigue-inducing environment, Ramirez said.

Sebastian Ramirez addresses the Corps of Cadets atop a mountain.

“There’s also a significant amount of physical training events varying from long-distance runs to courses designed to simulate the physical rigors of a combat environment,” he said.

He is currently in the Marine Company as the midshipman company gunnery sergeant and physical training instructor.

“My responsibilities include planning, overseeing all physical training events, and managing gear distribution and maintenance,” he said.

He’s had the privilege of leading the company in physical training and ensuring their success in physical fitness tests and combat fitness tests, but all aspects of life where one’s physical fitness is put to the test.

“We’re trying to build someone who is balanced in strength, endurance, and adaptability,” he said.

Ramirez said that a benefit of VMI is the open doors it provides.

“My decision to join NROTC came very late in my cadetship, relatively speaking. Fortunately, I was willing to put in the work and as a result, I’ve been given amazing opportunities despite having joined the program so late,” he said. “Finally, nothing makes the journey more meaningful than being able to take on every challenge with your best friends. Make friends wherever you go, and you will enjoy the work.”

Behind the Balance: Andrew Granger ’24 — Keydet Track and Field

If anyone knows balance, it’s Andrew Granger ’24. Not just with academics and cadet life, but within his event for track and field.

Granger is a thrower, which requires a steady technique — something he’s perfected throughout the years. He started throwing in high school.

“When you’re throwing, if you get off balance a little bit in any direction, then you can totally mess up the throw. It doesn’t matter where you are in the stages of the throw,” he said.

Every move is calculated: the trajectory you must throw it, or the certain angle for the best distance, down to the speed at which you’re rotating. Granger is thinking about all of this just seconds before he throws.

“You have good body awareness, and you define ‘what did I do wrong?’ That usually tells you what you need to improve and if you can do it. It directly translates to throwing farther and getting better.”

The English major, who will be attending Naval Officer Candidate School after graduation, decided on Virginia Military Institute after a visit with Coach Zach Scott.

“I got to see what life was like at VMI. I was really interested in the military aspect,” he said. Granger also figured attending VMI would give him the chance to see if serving in the military was the right choice for him — something he was on the fence about.

“I didn’t know whether or not I wanted to do it yet. So, I figured it would be a good chance for me to kind of push myself into that sort of life and see,” he said. “Also, I wanted to improve myself and have a good foundation for the rest of my life.”

He participates in the discus, shot put, and hammer throw events for both indoor and outdoor track. His season, which starts in October, goes on until May, making it one of the longest seasons for athletics at VMI.

Staying up to date in his 18 credits, while still participating in a Division I sport, can be difficult.

Andrew Granger preparing to throw the shot put during a track and field event for Virginia Military Institute.

Communication is key

With days starting at 6:45 a.m., classes until 4 p.m., and practice until after 7 p.m., then studying and homework until nearly midnight, Granger said it’s a full day.

“I think the phrase I hear a lot is VMI teaches you to fit a 30-hour workload into like a 24-hour day or something. I guess that it definitely teaches you to manage your time and it taught me to be respectful to everyone.” he said.

“It’s a lot of work. It’s a balance between the academic and the athletic workload. I kind of have to stay on top of my homework and studying, while also just being ready for practice and working as hard as I can when I’m practicing,” he said. “It’s just about managing the time outside of practice to get your work done.”

The biggest thing is communication, which is something VMI has instilled in him.

“I’ve learned to definitely stay in contact with my teachers, especially if I’m missing classes,” he said.

Emailing or talking in person with his professors is how he makes sure he’s making up what he’s missing out on in classes if he’s traveling for meets.

“Whenever I have time, which is usually during the travel time when we’re on the bus, I’m getting the work done,” he said.

Even though his sport is more individual, he said the whole team likes to back each other up. He said they all like to watch each other compete, cheer each other on, and be overall supportive of each other. Granger said they also guide each other and act as a second set of eyes looking at each athlete’s technique.

Midshipmen Moments: Addison Hagan ’24

Joseph Addison Hagan V ’24 always admired the men in his family who attended Virginia Military Institute. It was a part of his family history he wanted to claim.

“VMI is the hardest small military college and there is no better school to prepare me for service in the United States Marine Corps,” he said.

The civil engineering major applied for a four-year Marine Option Naval ROTC scholarship when he was a senior in high school. Those selected applicants for the NROTC scholarship program are awarded scholarships through a highly competitive national selection process. If awarded, they receive full tuition, a book stipend, educational fees, and other financial benefits. Once they graduate, the midshipmen are commissioned as officers in the U.S. Navy or U.S. Marine Corps.

Hagan was lucky enough to be awarded the scholarship, which allowed him to contract to be a Marine Corps officer upon his graduation from VMI.

The Naval ROTC program provides two programs in which cadets can enroll in — U.S. Navy or U.S. Marine Corps.

Hagan has participated in a few summer assignments. His first was Marine Month West at Camp Pendleton, California, staying at Camp Talega. His next summer assignment was Marine Month East at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Both assignments focused on training like land navigation, endurance courses, obstacle courses, hikes, physical fitness, academics, and small unit leadership.

“Both of these experiences were filled with really great training and a lot of fun times,” he said.

This past summer, he attended Officer Candidates School (OSC) at Marine Corps Base in Quantico. OSC is to educate and train officer candidates in Marine Corps knowledge and skills within a controlled and challenging environment. The school evaluates and screens individuals for the leadership, moral, mental, and physical qualities required for commissioning as a Marine Corps officer.

Some trainings and activities included: combat conditioning, obstacle course, close order drill, academic classes and discussions, fire team assault course, leadership reaction course, stamina and endurance course, small unit leadership evaluation, and daily platoon staff evaluation.

Joseph Addison Hagan V, Class of 2024 — Screenshot

“OCS was the toughest thing I’ve done so far, and it was an extremely rewarding experience,” he said.

Currently, he is the midshipmen company commander for the Marine Company. This means, he ensures that every cadet who is a Marine option midshipman has what they need to prepare for their future as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps.

“I get to help decide what we do for our training, and I have the opportunity to work closely with the NROTC Staff,” he said. “I would say that I get to lead others and give back to an organization that prepared me well for OCS. I am now in a position where I can put the principles and information I have learned over the past three years to work training the next few classes of midshipmen.”

Behind the Balance: Christopher Hicks ’24 — Keydet Rifle

Christopher Hicks ’24 takes a deep breath, sets up his sight, braces his weapon, and fires. For Hicks, the sport of rifle is 90% mental. It’s also long and arduous.

“If I’m having a rough last couple shots, I like to just put the gun down and then take a step back and try to regroup myself instead of letting the anger get to me,” he said.

If he lets his anger and frustration get to him, he’ll just end up rolling the same set of bad shots.

“I like to try to start over, reset my position,” he said. “This is a new shot. Forget about the old shots.”

How the sport of rifle works

He has two separate kinds of shots — one set of 60 shots with a .22 rifle and another set of 60 shots with an air rifle.

He said it’s about a shot a minute. There is a time limit for both sections of shots, a total of an hour and a half.

“It’s not rapid fire. You want to be one shot per minute,” he said. “Regroup yourself, go through the same routine, every shot. Make it the best shot you can.”

It’s more than just shooting a gun. It’s about position and accuracy.

When shooting the .22, you have three positions — prone, which is laying down; kneeling, with one knee down; and standing. Each position you get 20 shots, totaling 60 shots with the possibility of 600 points, 10 points per shot.

For the air rifle, all 60 shots are from the standing position, with the same possibility of points. In this round, the athlete generally scores higher.

Christopher Hicks shooting a rifle for Virginia Military Institute's rifle tea\m.

Handling studies and sport

Rifle is one of the sports at Virginia Military Institute with one of the longest seasons. Starting in September until early-March. Hicks said the team practices daily from 4 to 5:30 p.m.

“I would say time management is the biggest thing,” he said. “Being able to know your schedule and then know when you have time and then fitting everything in. That’s what’s helped me the most because I know when I practice and when I have free time, and so I can fit in time for studying.”

Hicks grew up hunting and knew his way around a gun, but he really got into it when he was part of Marine Corps Junior ROTC. The program has an extracurricular activity of rifle.

The civil engineering major was originally going to commission, now he’s looking to use his degree in the civil sector.

He wasn’t looking at schools specifically for rifle. He was selected for the team and entered a trial period. He said now, the team is making more recruiting efforts, but when he started, they were looking for people with prior experience in rifle.

Hicks said he’s a mix between a natural shot and a practiced one. He’s honed his skills on the range with practice — both mentally and in skill. The highest he’s scored is 591 in practice and 589 in competition.

Drills like removing the monitor where you can gauge your shot also helps in feeling and seeing where you’re shooting, he said.

“Rather than just putting lead downrange and seeing where it goes, it helps you understand where you’re putting the shot and what’s affecting the shot, like trigger pull or anything like that,” he said.

Behind the Balance: Grant Swinehart ’24 — Keydet Football

Grant Swinehart ’24 didn’t know a lot about Virginia Military Institute until one day the former head football coach Scott Wachenheim came to him with an offer. He had no military intentions. No connection to the military. And he had no clue what a military institute could offer him.

“It was my only offer for football. So it’s obviously something that I strongly considered,” the running back said.

He talked to a high school friend who played basketball at VMI to explore the option of becoming a cadet-athlete.

“He told me a lot about school and that’s when I made my decision to commit here and kind of just ended up just picking in and rolling with it,” Swinehart said.

Swinehart started playing football at the age of six. It was something his father introduced him to since he played when he was younger and through high school. His father was even his coach for a while. Swinehart was drawn to the physical competitiveness of the sport.

“It was just different from the other sports that I’ve played,” he said. “It’s a big team sport, but it allows you to be competitive and physical. So that’s why I fell in love with it.”

Now, as a Keydet Football player, he loves the rush when he takes the field.

“Waiting for the first kickoff of the game, there’s a lot of anxiety and butterflies, just excited for it to start,” he said. “Just like probably any other sport, but football it’s a big build-up to the first moment and a lot of guys on my team will probably agree that those butterflies don’t really go away until the first play or until the first set and sometimes a couple plays after that. You kind of got to get it out of your system. But it’s a feeling like no other. Just hearing the fans cheer you on and being able to be out there with the guys you’ve been working so hard with. You can’t describe it.”

Weightlifting, class, practice, studies

Swinehart is getting up in the early hours to do weightlifting, which starts at 6 a.m. Then it’s team meetings. It’s on to breakfast at 7 a.m. Classes are from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. Then it’s onto pre-practice meetings and full practice from 5 to 7 p.m.

After practice, he’s studying during a dedicated study hall period. Finally, it’s dinner time at 8 p.m. More studying. By 10 p.m., it’s free time.

With a load of 14 and a half credits, he says he tries to get ahead on schoolwork. Cadet-athletes at VMI not only have their responsibilities with their selected sport but cadet duties on top of that. There are specific times when they can eat, go to class, study, and sleep. Cadets are also required to take physical fitness classes twice a week, participate in ROTC all four years, require room and uniform inspections, parade preparation, guard duty, and more.

“It’s definitely a challenge, but we have great resources with the athletic department to kind of stay on top of those types of things,” he said. “You really just got to be focused and dedicated in any of the free time that you do have to be getting your homework done, reaching out to the teachers, just kind of staying on top of things.”

He says that if you start to fall behind, it’s going to be almost impossible to catch up.

“That’s something that VMI kind of taught me, is to not get behind and try to stay on top of things in the first place. Reach out to professors in advance about traveling and what things you might miss,” he said.

With his travel schedule, which is normally every other weekend, he has letters to give to his professors to alert them he will be missing class and therefore gets the assignments he’ll miss. He’s not doing work on the bus rides, instead, he aims to finish everything before he leaves for away games.

Grant Swinehart with a football in hand while running down the field. — NCAA Football Championship Subdivision: Keydets rally to defeat Wildcats, 12-7

“There are some days that kind of can hit you, especially when a lot of tests or big assignments fall on the same day. Or you got a big practice ahead of you,” he said.

He said the small class size at VMI is helpful in these cases because it allows him to have a more personal relationship with not only his classmates but also his professors.

“It’s really easy to have that close relationship with your professor and meet with them when need be to make up anything you might have missed,” he said.

Swinehart knows a lot about dedication and it’s something that VMI head football coach Danny Rocco recognized. Prior to the season, Swinehart was awarded the number 0 which is a new tradition started by Rocco. Each year, number zero will be given to the captain of the special teams — someone who embodies what it means to be a cadet-athlete: hard work, dedication, sacrifice, and selflessness.

The future

Swinehart is set to graduate in the spring and hopes to put his name in the transfer portal to see if he can play football while getting his master’s somewhere. He has two years of eligibility due to the COVID-19 season and for tearing his ACL in his second year.

If not, he hopes to pursue something with his psychology degree. He feels his time at VMI has prepared him for the real world.

“What I kind of say to myself is that it’s very rewarding knowing that you’ve been through all that stuff and you were able to handle multiple different things all at once,” he said. “It’s kind of preparing you for later in life, like with a job and a family and kids and all the other things that are going to come with that. I chose to come to a school like this and to play a sport like this, which I love a lot. It’s all just part of the process, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world ever. I really love it and I know that at the end of the day, it’s helping me become a better person.”

Tag: Class of 2024