(ABOVE) SPHS senior Raina Roemhildt (front row, fifth from the right holding the check) poses with the large group of family, friends and SPHS classmates who turned out for her NROTC scholarship presentation on Monday afternoon.
Raina Roemhildt, a senior at Saint Peter High School, received a Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) scholarship, worth approximately $200,000, during a special presentation at SPHS on Monday (April 17th). Raina is the daughter of Gabriela and Mark Roemhildt of St. Peter.
While the Navy awards thousands of NROTC scholarships every year, Roemhildt was awarded the Immediate Scholarship Reservation (ISR) scholarship. The scholarship is awarded by the U.S. Navy unit commanding officers and is only given to a select few applicants.
“This is a huge accomplishment for Raina,” Cmdr. John Allen, commanding officer of the Navy Talent Acquisition Group (NTAG) Northern Plains, said. “She, without a doubt, embodies our Navy’s core values and represents the quality of our nation’s future Navy leaders, innovators and warriors. It is an absolute honor for me to be offered the privilege to recognize her hard work and dedication through the awarding of this selective scholarship.”
Out of the 80 applications for the ISR scholarship, Roemhildt was one of four that were selected for this scholarship in the NTAG Northern Plains region.
"Being selected for an NROTC scholarship is an unreal experience,” Roemhildt said. “Everything that I’ve worked for my entire high school career has been acknowledged. All of the volunteer work, the leadership positions, the countless recommendation letters I’ve asked for from my school counselor, and my course-load have all led up to this.”
Roemhildt, whose father is a retired U.S. Navy Commander, said she didn’t have to look far for her inspiration in becoming a naval officer.
“The Navy has always been a part of my life. I was born and raised a Navy brat, stationed everywhere from Virginia to Singapore,” she said. “I knew that I wanted to go into the service, but I also wanted to attend college. NROTC is the best of both worlds.”
Roemhildt was accepted to the University of Washington (Seattle, WA) for an undeclared engineering degree where she will continue her father’s legacy as a naval officer commissioning through a NROTC program.
“I’m honored to wear the uniform as my father did before me, and am excited to see where the Navy will take me,” said Roemhildt.
More photos from the scholarship presentation are shown below:
