Undergraduate / Senator Mark Kirk - Why do you want to join a Service Academy? (Nomination) [7]

Here's the prompt, short and simple. Why do you want to join a Service Academy?

I'm currently in the process of applying for a nomination from my respective Senator and I need to write a 500 word or less essay explaining why I wish to join a Service Academy. This is what I have:

Compassion / Sacrifice / Endurance - Joining Service Academy

William Faulkner once said, "I believe that man will not merely endure; he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance." Compassion. Sacrifice. Endurance. These three virtues are important to me, and are reasons I want to attend a Service Academy and become a Naval Officer. I aspire to go to a Service Academy because of my desire to help those in need, the opportunity to serve my country, and the diverse challenges it offers, physically and mentally. My aspiration to become a Naval Officer manifested itself due to a series of shaping experiences.

Compassion. One summer my friend Jesse and I decided to take a walk to the local Best Buy. We had barely left when we noticed an elderly woman seated on the ground and her husband trying to help her up. Jesse walked passed them, as if they were not there, but I saw the look of helplessness on both the man and the lady's faces and I knew I had to help. I stopped and learned the lady had been tired from her walk back from the train station, took a seat to rest, and could not get up. By this time Jesse walked back and together we helped the lady up, but she could not support her own weight. We took turns carrying the grateful woman back to the couple's home and sat her in a chair. Afterwards, I continued helping others through involvement in community service. It is the look upon people's faces of pure happiness that has kept me hooked for so long. As an officer in the Navy, I would have the ability to influence a multitude of people.

Sacrifice. My father was the origin of my interest toward the Naval Academy. He never cared if I learned the strategies employed by John Boyd; rather he wanted me to genuinely understand what it meant to serve our country proudly and to truly experience life. He succeeded, instilling in me all my life the values he learned as a part of the Navy.

Endurance. It goes without saying that being in a Service Academy requires one to be in great shape. Growing up, I was always playing sports, whether it was football, lacrosse, soccer, or hockey, so I know what goes into getting in shape. However, no matter how rigorous the training was, it was not enough; after sprints for football I'd run more. I wanted to be in the best physical shape I could be and I know that the Naval Academy will challenge me beyond what those sports have. Knowing that there are things like the Sea Trails to test me makes me eager for what could lie ahead of me with a life in the Naval Academy.

The culmination of these traits and my respective experiences with them are why I want to attend the Naval Academy.

It's 499 words. What I'm most concerned about is if my life experiences relate to why I want to join. Thank you for any and all help!