Malecek accepted to Air Force Academy

• PHOTO: Malecek

Marcus Malecek was accepted to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Talk about it

Things have been going well for St. Croix Central senior Marcus Malecek.

In addition to being named valedictorian of his class, taking second place at the state wrestling tournament and third place at the national wrestling level, Malecek recently found out he’s been accepted to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.

At the end of December, U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) and U.S. Congressman Ron Kind nominated Malecek for the Air Force Academy.

About two weeks ago Kohl’s office called the high school to tell Malecek he’d been accepted to the academy.

Malecek said he was relieved by the news.

“I was getting really anxious and I just wanted to find out. It was really good to get the word. Especially since it was good news,” he explained.

The Air Force Academy was Malecek’s school of choice, and he says it’s an honor to be accepted.

“It’s a chance to be a leader in the world and get ahead that way. It’s a great school as far as engineering and sciences, which is the field that I’m interested in. And also, I’ll have the opportunity to wrestle at the school, so it was a pretty easy decision from that standpoint,” he said.

Malecek accepted the academy’s offer far before the April 15 deadline. He flies out on June 27 for six weeks of basic training and school will start in August.

Malecek says he’s really excited and a little nervous about going to the academy.

“I’m most nervous about the new lifestyle. Obviously I’ve never been in the military before, so it will just be an adjustment as far as that goes,” he said. “I’m really excited about the opportunity. It’s a great school and I think only good things are going to happen from here.”

Tags: st croix central, communities, education, hammond, roberts