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They are among 7 from 5th Congressional District

By Paul Garber
CLEMMONS JOURNAL REPORTER

All it took was a week living on campus of the U.S. Air Force Academy for Joshua Royall Whiteheart to know where he wanted to go to college.

Last year, Whiteheart, who graduated from West Forsyth High School this month, attended a summer seminar at the academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., along with more than 300 other high-school students from across the country.

During that time, he lived in a dorm and ate in a mess hall. The experience motivated him to seek an appointment to the academy, he said.

His work was rewarded in December when U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx nominated him to the academy. He will leave for Colorado Springs this weekend, and he said he is prepared for the challenge.

"It's fixin' to get crazy, but I honestly think I can handle it," he said.

Whiteheart was one of two western Forsyth County residents to be appointed to a service academy this year. Norris Weaver Evans of Lewisville, a recent graduate from Forsyth Country Day School, was appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

Appointees to the service academies attend for four years of undergraduate school and receive commissions as officers when they graduate.

Whiteheart said that his leadership skills at West Forsyth helped him get his appointment. He was student-body vice president last year, was president of the Key Club and spent four years on the student-leadership committee. He also played lacrosse for two years.

He plans to major in behavioral sciences and hopes to earn a private pilot's license. He said he hopes to be one of the select group of people chosen to become Air Force pilots.

"I'd like to pursue a career in aviation," Whiteheart said.

Evans, who plans to study mechanical engineering at the Naval Academy, said that a chance to serve his country was a big part of his decision to seek the appointment. He plans to go into the Marine Corps after graduation.

Evans played lacrosse at Forsyth Country Day, founded a marksmanship club at the school and participated in concert choir and musical theater.

He said he has always planned for a life in the military and got interested in the service academies when he was about 13.

He credited Forsyth Country Day for preparing him for the Naval Academy.

"It's probably the reason I got there," he said about the school. "It's helped me out a lot."

Whiteheart and Evans were among a group of seven service-academy appointees from the 5th Congressional District, which covers 12 counties in Northwest North Carolina.