When he graduates from Millbrook High School in late May, Peter Warner will already have a college degree, and two additional credentials thanks to the dual-enrolled credits he earned by attending Mountain Vista Governor’s School (MVGS) on the Middletown Campus since his sophomore year.
On May 15, he’ll be receiving his Associate Degree in Science, summa cum laude, Uniform Certificate of General Studies, summa cum laude, and Career Studies Certificate in Computer Science Generalist.
That is not all that is impressive about the aspiring astronautical engineer. He will be leaving for the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, this summer. Not only that, Warner was also accepted to the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Military Academy.
His desire to serve was inspired by his grandfather, a U.S. Navy Vietnam vet.
“That’s the main reason I wanted to join the military – just seeing how it changed his life,” said Warner. “He’s 83 now and still makes his bed and talks to old military friends. He really enjoyed his time in the military.”
When he was a freshman, Warner attended Academy Day with U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, which was a driving factor in his deciding to attend MVGS, thinking it would help prepare him for one of the military academies.
“I just wanted a more challenging environment,” he said of his decision to attend MVGS. “I really wanted to do STEM and engineering classes, and I thought it would be a good way to get into that. I also wanted smaller class sizes, and the teachers at governor’s school really work with you. You get really close to them and I like that aspect.”
His favorite class has been Physics with Allen Burton.
Peter Warner was accepted into the U.S. Air Force Academy, as well as West Point and the U.S. Naval Academy.
“It’s just been a really fun class,” said Warner. “It’s also been probably the hardest class I’ve taken. I’m always learning new stuff in there.”
As an ambassador with the governor’s school, he has visited middle school students and high school freshmen to share how it has helped him. He also participated on the MVGS robotics team. At Millbrook, he has run cross country all four years – serving as captain his junior and senior years – plus, done track, and this year was on the tennis team.
“In the Air Force, I want to do astronautical engineering, working on satellites, rockets, and other infrastructure in space,” Warner said. “If I don’t do engineering, I want to become a pilot.”
While all of the three service academies have space programs, only the Air Force would allow him to join the Space Force as an officer, he said.
“I also think the Air Force is the most technical of the academies,” Warner added. “They have the most engineers, allowing you to do more problem solving.
“I’ve always liked engineering. More recently, since taking Physics, I’ve really started to be interested in space and flying. I was very excited and surprised to have all of these options.”