With Help from Hutchison, Alexis Parent ’24 Will Achieve Her Naval Academy Dreams

When Alexis Parent ’24 was pulled out of Chinese class one morning, she wasn’t sure what was going on, but she was told that U.S. House Rep. David Kustoff wanted to speak to her. It turned out to be one of the happiest moments of her life as he shared that Alexis had been accepted into the United States Naval Academy. 

There was jumping. There were shouts of excitement. There were plenty of tears from Alexis, her parents, and the upper school faculty and staff present. This had been Alexis’ goal for a long time. It was one of the first things she said in her initial meeting with her college counselor Lauren Colpitts, and with help from Hutchison, Alexis made it happen.

“Hutchison bent over backward to help me get to my goal,” she said. “I put in the work and did what I needed to do with the help of everyone here.”

For example, Alexis needed to fit physics and AP Calculus into her senior year schedule. Hutchison’s college counseling team figured out how to make it happen, and her teachers have helped her stay on track through the challenging coursework. Hutchison’s college counselors also prepared her for her admissions interview by researching potential questions and helping her target her answers. 


Achieving her goal was even sweeter because of her personal connection to the military: Alexis’ father served in the Air Force for over 20 years. “It has always been something that is important to me,” she said. “I have always had such a sense of pride in him, and that’s something I can’t wait to reflect in the future.”

Alexis came to Hutchison in fourth grade, and she distinguished herself as a strong athlete, servant leader, and mentor to other students through her involvement in a variety of activities. She was team captain for the varsity lacrosse team during the spring season, and playing the sport over the years had a large influence on her. “I’ve learned how far I can push myself and how to overcome challenges, and that’s something I’m definitely going to take with me to college,” she said. 


This spring, Alexis received the Dr. Annette C. Smith Community Award, which recognizes a student who is passionate about her community and engages actively in the world around her. As a member of the Wilson Society, she worked with students at Binghampton Christian Academy. Her project, Angels for Amsey, was inspired by Amsey Liebenow, a St. Mary’s Episcopal School student who tragically passed away in 2021. Along with several other Hutchison girls, Alexis volunteered to help Binghampton Christian Academy students with whatever they needed and inspire them to live positively as Amsey did. One day, they watched High School Musical and talked about togetherness, which Alexis learned a lot about at Hutchison. 

“The most important thing I’ve learned at Hutchison is to rely on the people that I surround myself with. Hutchison does a great job of providing you with people that have great foundations in their life and people that I just love being around,” she said. “At times when things are harder or I’m stressed, I can go to them and they’re there for me. They’re always there for me in any way I need them to be. It can be teachers. It can be students. It can be anybody.”

At the Naval Academy, she is looking forward to learning more about herself and figuring out what her role within the military is going to be. She plans to study operations research, the discipline of applying mathematical methods to study and analyze complex decisions. She also is interested in serving in the Navy as a pilot flying F-22s or as a surface warfare officer.

“Service, to me, is giving back to everyone. I can’t wait to give back to the community that I’ve built here in a way that is very special and unique. Service also is protecting the people I love. I love everyone in the Hutchison community and Memphis. Being able to do something that protects them and attempts to make the world a better place for them is amazing to me,” she said.