LOCAL STUDENT FLYING HIGH SENIOR WINS 3 SERVICE ACADEMY SPOTS.Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. - Desert High School senior Kaitlin Kirk had the luxury of deciding whether to accept an appointment to not one military service academy or even two - but three of the nation's most prestigious universities. Kirk, a 4.19-GPA student and valedictorian who is a nationally ranked chess player, has received appointments to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado. She has decided on the Air Force Academy, much to the delight of her father, a 22-year Air Force veteran who served as director of operations at Edwards Air Force Base's test pilot school before retiring three years ago. ``I'm really honored. It's something I've been working for since I decided to go into the military, which was the seventh grade,'' Kirk said. ``One of my interests is I'd like to be a pilot. This would be a great way to do that. It's a very mentally and physically challenging career and it's for a great cause, service to our nation. That's what I would be honored to spend my life doing.'' Desert High School officials describe Kirk as a top-notch student and are marveling at her accomplishments. ``It's very hard to get an appointment to one academy, let alone three academies,'' said Nancy Arellano, assistant academic adviser at the 420-student school. ``I've been with the school for 13 years, and I never had a student receive appointments to three service academies. That's just an incredible achievement.'' Arellano noted that getting academy appointments is a very competitive process. ``Many people don't realize that service academies don't just take U.S. citizens, they take foreign nationals as well. You are not just competing with thousands of applicants who are U.S. citizens, you are competing against truly a global peer group,'' Arellano said. Kirk, a resident of Palmdale, also received Air Force and Navy ROTC scholarships, valued at $100,000, that would have been good at any college she wished to attend, said her mother, Katie Kirk. ``We are very excited for her. She works very hard, and I guess she's getting the fruits of her labor,'' said Katie Kirk, who works as a nurse practitioner nurse practitioner n. Abbr. NP A registered nurse with special training for providing primary health care, including many tasks customarily performed by a physician. at NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. Dryden Flight Research Center The Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC), located inside Edwards Air Force Base, is an aeronautical research center operated by NASA. On March 26, 1976 it was named in honor of the late Hugh L. . ``She's very driven, focused, and I think a good leader.'' Kirk took algebra in the seventh grade and geometry in the eighth grade, Arellano said. Since Desert is a small school, it doesn't offer a lot of Advanced Placement courses, Arellano said. Kirk, undeterred undeterred Adjective not put off or dissuaded Adj. 1. undeterred - not deterred; "pursued his own path...undeterred by lack of popular appreciation and understanding"- Osbert Sitwell undiscouraged , took advantage of online AP courses with the University of California The University of California has a combined student body of more than 191,000 students, over 1,340,000 living alumni, and a combined systemwide and campus endowment of just over $7.3 billion (8th largest in the United States). beginning in her junior year and took English and calculus calculus, branch of mathematics that studies continuously changing quantities. The calculus is characterized by the use of infinite processes, involving passage to a limit—the notion of tending toward, or approaching, an ultimate value. , Arellano said. ``She's always taken the most challenging courses to her. When the courses weren't available to her, she went outside of school and found those that were available,'' Arellano said. ``She's a leader from the tips of her toes to her eyebrows. She's always a take-charge person.'' Kirk is a cadet leader Cadet Leader is a rank held by senior cadets in the St. John Ambulance Brigade. Cadets holding this rank are normally between their 15th and 18th birthdays. They rank above Cadet NCOs but are subordinate to Adult Members and Officers.In the St. in the school's Junior ROTC, serves as a student liaison to the Muroc Joint Unified School District A unified school district is a school district which includes both primary school (kindergarten through middle school or junior high) and high school (grades 9-12). In Illinois, these districts are called unit school districts. board, is a member of the National Honor Society The National Honor Society (NHS), established in 1921, is a recognition program for American high school students who show achievement in scholarship, leadership, service, and character. , competes as a Mathlete, and has been to the state Science Fair for three years. She also does varsity soccer, volleyball and track. Kirk has been the Kern County High School Chess Champion since the ninth grade and was named 12th-grade champion of the Western United States Noun 1. western United States - the region of the United States lying to the west of the Mississippi River West Santa Fe Trail - a trail that extends from Missouri to New Mexico; an important route for settlers moving west in the 19th century by the U.S. Chess Federation. Her mother said Kirk has been playing chess since about second grade. ``My husband is more a student of chess than I am, though I taught her moves early on. When it came to real coaching in tactics and strategies that was her dad,'' Katie Kirk said. ``She's been able to beat me for years.'' Father John Kirk John Kirk may refer to:
After college, Kirk plans to go to pilot training, get her wings, earn an advanced degree in engineering, and then attend the test pilot school at Edwards. Eventually she would like to become an astronaut astronaut, crew member on a U.S. manned spaceflight mission; the Soviet term is cosmonaut. Candidates for manned spaceflight are carefully screened to meet the highest physical and mental standards, and they undergo rigorous training. . ``I've been a military brat all my life almost. It's what I know best. I want to be a pilot, and the Air Force was the way to go on that,'' Kirk said. Kirk attributes her academic success to her parents. ``They were always definitely pushing me to do my best and making sure I didn't slack off. I developed good study habits early on,'' she said. ``I've been dedicated to academics to make sure I learn what I can and take classes and get good grades so that I have these kinds of opportunities.'' Karen Maeshiro, (661) 267-5744 karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) Kaitlin Kirk Wants to be a pilot |
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