Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank this body for the opportunity to recognize our alma mater and our Association of Graduates at the United States Military Academy at West Point. As Mr. Shimkus was highlighting, I didn't come the easy way. As a friend of mine likes to say, sometimes God will bring you the easiest way you will go. For me, my journey to West Point started in my high school guidance counselor's classroom in September of senior year. Most people realize that is kind of a late start for the path that it takes to go to one of our Nation's service academies. And then she asked me what I wanted to do, And I said: Well, I want to be an Army ranger. She said: Well, you know, you are pretty smart. You should go to college. You should consider college, at least. I said: Well, you know, I thought about going to West Point. Then I could be in the Army and go to college. She looked at me like she felt sorry for me. She said: Well, baby, that is not going to happen. That wasn't mean; it was realistic. I had not done the work that it would take to get there. She walked me through who normally gets in: The salutatorians, the valedictorians, the people with the high GPAs while being captain of sports, Eagle Scouts, and what not. I recognized some of my classmates who had been on that path, and I recognized that that is not the path that I had been on. No one in my family on my dad's side had gone to college.…”