Senior Profile: Denny Rice

As a kid, senior Denny Rice never imagined entering the military. He didn’t envision a college experience filled with “Sir! Yes, sir!” and combat training. He didn’t picture himself in the gray and white West Point uniform. He didn’t dream of dedicating the next eight years of his life to the U.S. Army.

But he is.

After spending nearly a year applying — he had to get two nominations from Kansas Congressmen just to be considered — Rice will be attending the United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y.

Rice was initially drawn to West Point for its focus on preparing students for military leadership, since he has dedicated much of himself to leading at East. As student body president, he’s learned the value of strong leadership, and as he visited and researched West Point, he thought it would be a perfect place to develop this further.

“When [Rice] starts something he finishes it, and he does a good job with whatever he touches,” Brenda Fishman, Rice’s former teacher and StuCo sponsor, said. “Leading comes very naturally to him.”

After four years at West Point, Rice will serve in active duty for five years, and spend three years in the reserves.

“I believe very strongly that everyone should give back to their country in some way,” Rice said.  “That’s something very important to me, and I think West Point is a perfect place to pursue that.”

At West Point, students are issued military-grade uniforms, live with the same group of 40-50 students for all four years and are required to play a sport — which fosters a sense of unity, according to Rice.

“On campus, they have some of the happiest and most driven students in the country,” Rice said. “They have a mentality that they are doing something that really matters, that they believe in.”

On July 2nd, Rice will suit up for basic training. While the green and brown army uniform brings him a unique chance to serve his country, it comes with risk. However, both Rice and his family agree that the opportunities outweigh the potential danger.

At West Point, he has the ability to immerse himself fully in his interests, whether it’s through training overseas with another country’s military academy to learn about international relations or climbing in the Andes to build physical strength.“It gives him an amazing chance to do things that he wouldn’t necessarily be able to in civilian life,” his sister, freshman Sophie Rice, said.