Max Mitchell intentionally makes life as full as possible.
The senior plays three sports; is involved with state champion Science Olympiad and Scholars Bowl teams; is active in Future Business Leaders of America and Student Council; and on top of all of that, maintains good grades and time for friends and families.
For Mitchell, the busy life is all about preparation. He has accrued acceptance to four service academies: the Air Force Academy, the Military Academy at West Point, the Merchant Marine Academy and the Naval Academy.
He said he plans to commit to the Naval Academy this week. He’s ready for the challenge ahead of him.
“I enjoy everything that I do,” Mitchell said. “But also, I keep the mindset that whatever I’m doing right now, the long-term benefit of it is better than any, like, short-term struggle I might go through. So I’m just keeping a long-term mindset that this is going to help me achieve what I want to achieve.”
Mitchell was born into a service-minded family. His dad, Jeff Mitchell, attended the Naval Academy and other extended relatives served in the Army. His mom’s side of the family has a history in law enforcement.
So the possibility of attending a service academy has always been on Mitchell’s mind. In middle school, he started taking the idea seriously.
He attended an Air Force wrestling camp two years ago. This past summer, he went to the Naval Academy for a camp, where he was treated like first-year students would be. In Mitchell’s words, they were “kind of just yelled at all the time.”
But Mitchell endured with one goal in mind: to set himself up for a future at a service academy.
“I know that most of my stuff will translate to my real-world job,” he said. “Knowing that it’s not just something I’m randomly learning, but something that I’ll actually use helps me keep going.”
As a sophomore in high school, Mitchell started to take the prospect of applying for service academies seriously. His dad used his own experience to help guide him.
Mitchell said his time playing football, wrestling and track prepared him for his next step, where he will be required to play a sport no matter which service academy he chooses.
“He makes it look easy,” his mom Jody Mitchell said. “But I think he just has in his mind, he knows he’s got a lot of hard work to do.”
Science Olympiad was one of the most crucial activities to get him prepared for a service academy, he said, because it gave him hands-on academic experience.
Jody Mitchell said Science Olympiad coach Barbie Hartwell was a key influence on her son.
“That program that she has with the kids is just, it’s unbelievable,” she said. “I owe her my arm … I just think that woman is everything to these kids.”
Hartwell praised Mitchell’s skills and maturity, crediting it partially to the upbringing he got from his parents. She said a service academy was a good fit for him. Thanks to his athletic, academic and leadership skills, Hartwell described him as the total package.
“Max is a bright kid academically,” Hartwell said. “He’s a problem solver. He analytically can do math quicker than a lot of kids can. His leadership skills, he’s kind of a natural leader.”
Mitchell plans to spend the next four years studying aerospace engineering and fulfilling his service requirement. Five years normally, and 10 if he chooses to become a pilot. After that, though, the options are wide open.
He could stay in service, use his aerospace degree for a job or use his new skills outside the military, like becoming a commercial pilot.
“I like keeping my options as open as possible,” Mitchell said. “Which is kind of, that’s why I applied to all of them. I wasn’t really concerned about just trying to get into one single academy.”
Lucky for him, he got into them all. His mom wasn’t surprised.
“I’m super excited for him to have, you know, this excellent education right around amazing human beings,” Jody Mitchell said. “If he were to go to any of these, you know, I think it’s incredible that he wants to serve his country.”
Accompanying excitement, though, is the fear of any parents whose child chooses to pursue a career in the military. She said the first year will be like “nothing he’s ever seen.”
But she knows service is in his blood, and she knows he is prepared.
Wrestling bouts, Science Olympiad championships, football games, Scholars Bowl buzzers and everything in between have taught Mitchell a host of lessons, he said. Now it’s time to use those skills to serve his country, wherever that may be.
He plans to continue looking to the future and working every day to get there. He encourages everyone else to do the same.
“There’s something that they can do right now that will help them in the long term,” he said. “Whether that be going to work out today or joining a club. There are things you can do to gradually improve yourself.”
Reach reporter Cuyler Dunn at [email protected]
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