05/27/2026
Coming from a family of veterans, Aedan Burgos has always been fascinated by military history.
In third grade, when his classmates came to Career Day dressed as police officers or firefighters, Aedan dressed up as General George Patton. (The other kids didn't know who he was, he says, but their parents did.)
That's why we're so excited to learn that Aedan, who earned his A.A. degree from Valencia College as a dual enrollment student while attending Harmony High School, will be starting his college career at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in the fall!
He began researching military academies in ninth grade and worked hard to get the grades and experience to make himself a good candidate. Congressman Darren Soto nominated him and, in December, Aedan learned he'd received an appointment to the academy.
"West Point is the oldest military academy in the country and has the richest background," says Aedan, who will leave for basic training in June. "The graduates from West Point are the greatest war fighters of all time. Most of the Civil War generals went there. Patton went there. It’s very old and comes with a lot of history. So I'm very honored to be able to walk the same halls that they did."
