Was it for the free education and a good engineering degree? I don't mean to be damning, but that's a reason why the service academies are a place some people go. The USNA is the number four engineering school in the United States. I don't know about West Point.I don't know where it stems from
I didn't mean my appreciation was related to West Point. I venerated the military before I knew it was a viable option for someone seeking a strong higher education. As a lower-middle class teen with a constant fear of college debt and a desire for a remote sense of freedom after college, when I found out about the absolutely insane benefits of attending West Point, it only sealed the deal and convinced my mother to be on board.
Are you from a country where that's a thing?
I'm from Armenia, where teens break their own legs or flee the country to avoid the draft. I truly think it was born from my own interest, and possibly an oppressed desire for a little masculinity to be honest.