SOCIAL CIRCLE, Ga. - With family and friends looking on and U.S. Representative Jody Hice in attendance, Social Circle High School senior Ashley Clegg signed to attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point during a ceremony Monday afternoon at the high school.

Clegg, commander of the SCHS JROTC battalion and a member of the school’s rifle team, also committed to shoot for West Point’s rifle team. She explained how she made her college choice.

“I’ve been asked over and over again ‘Why the military, why the Army and why the United States Military Academy,’” she said. “ I’ve answered this question many different ways between interviews,  family dinners and school and it always came back to one answer.

“It’s hard to put into words because it’s more of a feeling, which makes it hard for others to understand. I feel in my heart a calling to serve and protect our great nation - to honor those who have served and are serving and to follow in their footsteps.”

Clegg, who also received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, said she plans to study international relations at West Point in preparation for a career in military intelligence.

She is one of only two Social Circle High School graduates to receive appointments to a United States military academy. The other is Luke Udell who is a junior at the Naval Academy.