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EDUCATION Phoenix student will follow his sister to U.S. Naval Academy Hunter McAlister will enter the academy as his sister, Kya, heads for the Navy Comment By John Darling for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By John Darling for the Mail Tribune Posted Mar. 14, 2016 at 11:59 AM By John Darling for the Mail Tribune Posted Mar. 14, 2016 at 11:59 AM » Social News A Phoenix High School graduate who went to the U.S. Naval Academy four years ago is expected to graduate in June and then head off to Navy flight school. Now her brother is following the same path from Phoenix High to the vaunted academy. He is about to get his private pilot’s license and hopes to join his sister someday as a jet fighter pilot. Kya McAlister was class president, valedictorian and a 4.0 student at Phoenix High when she was accepted to the Naval Academy in 2012. Her brother, Hunter McAlister, expects to leave Phoenix High in June with a 3.95 GPA (he got a B in freshman English). He spends his mornings studying chemistry and advanced calculus at Southern Oregon University and has been a class officer. Both raised steers with 4-H for college money (the Naval Academy is free) and were standouts in many sports. Overachieving is normal for this close-knit, highly motivated family, say parents Mark McAlister, a Rogue Valley native and former school principal, and Debi McAlister, a native Alaskan who grew up in the Bering Strait region, where she was a school teacher. “We’re a very close family,” says Debi McAlister. “We made our three children work really hard. They didn’t have a choice. It was always our priority. Learning came really easy for them. They were always at the top of their class. It’s been a way of life for them.” The parents fostered a spirit of learning and adventure, they say, with high standards of behavior, work ethic, eschewing alcohol and drugs, getting up early for sports and homework, and immersion in subsistence hunting and fishing from Alaska to Mexico and Hawaii, says Mark, who did a hitch in the Marines in the early ‘80s. Among their quarry have been reindeer, moose, caribou and many types of fish and birds, especially in Alaska, where they’ve often traveled and kept in touch with the people and customs of Debi’s kinfolk and the Yupik tribe of Eskimos. She is also descended from Russians of the area. In addition to requiring academic excellence, the Naval Academy looks for students who’ve had diverse experiences and have taken part in athletics, says Hunter McAlister, who played baseball, football and placed sixth in the state this year in wrestling. Hunter was sponsored for the Naval Academy by U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., and had to pass an interview with a panel of retired military officers in this region. “It was a little nerve-wracking,” he notes. “They had a lot of questions about why I want to be in the military and how I define leadership. They asked me about my faults, and I said the big one is that I sometimes take on too many things and overextend myself. But I also said I know how to be a leader when it’s necessary.” Hunter talks to his sister a couple times a week and likes what he hears, adding he can’t wait to move on to two years of flight training after he finishes his four years at the Academy. He wants to major in math, and after he wins his wings, he’s expected to make a five-year commitment as a pilot, then possibly move on to work in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) fields, where demand in the Navy is considerable, he notes. Kya McAlister, an oceanography major, expresses similar career goals, adding, “I love it at the Academy. It’s been very challenging, extremely rewarding, and I’ve been pushed beyond my limits academically.” The Naval Academy is 30 percent female, with co-ed dorms, she says. “I'm surrounded by all my brothers-in-arms and sisters-in-arms," she says in a phone interview. "I am getting nostalgic about leaving, but now I have a great reason to come back and visit — to see my brother. I could not be more thrilled about him coming here. He’s worked so hard for it.” Kya will leave in August for flight training at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida, and she says she’s committed to a Navy career for at least the next decade. “We’re so proud of them. Being nominated to the Academy is a phenomenal feat in itself,” says Mark McAlister. “But it’s a stepping stone in life. It opens doors. We believe life is an adventure. Life is limitless now.” John Darling is a freelance writer living in Ashland. Email him at [email protected]. By John Darling for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By John Darling for the Mail Tribune Posted Mar. 14, 2016 at 11:59 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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