Fallon student awarded Navy ROTC scholarship

A Churchill County High School Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps senior recently received a scholarship to Stanford University for $180,000.

Jonathan Grimes, who was born in Fallon, said he was excited to learn that he received the scholarship from the Navy ROTC but said the hard part wasn’t over.

“I want to make a clarification,” Grimes said. “Even though I received the scholarship to Stanford, it doesn’t mean I was accepted to the school yet … that is still unknown.”

Grimes referred to the NROTC website that explains the scholarship process.

According to the website, the process for the scholarship is as follows: Applicants are asked to pick five colleges or universities on their scholarship application. Each school must be for a different NROTC unit and one must be a state school, not necessarily in the candidate’s home state. Each applicant must also select an academic program in which he/she wishes to major.

“All academic programs fall into three tiers relative to the Navy’s technical needs. Scholarships will be awarded to an NROTC unit in conjunction with the academic major and tier the applicant specified on his/her application” the website stated. “If offered the scholarship, the student will be expected to attend the school at which their scholarship is placed. In order to change this placement, the student must submit in writing to the NROTC Placement Office a request to change their placement.”

Grimes said five schools he selected on the application included Stanford, University of Washington, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Cornell University in no particular preference. On his wait list are the United States Naval Academy and Carnegie Mellon University.

Depending on where Grimes attends college, he plans to study engineering, either civil or nuclear.

“I have always loved building with Lego toys and math and physics,” Grimes said. “My dad was talking to me one day about careers and suggested I’d be good in engineering since that kind of stuff interest me. After thinking about it, I realized he was right and it just seemed like the right fit.”

Grimes said making sure he goes to a good school is a step in the right direction for his future and being able to do something good with his life.

Being a part of the JROTC program has led Grimes to his passion for the Navy. Grimes is the cadet operations officer and has focused on military training and academics and will finish as one of the top students academically at CCHS.

“My dad and granddad both went to the University of California, Berkeley,” Grimes said. “When I use the scholarship provided by the NROTC, I will owe some years to the Navy once I graduate, and I’m fine with that … I want to make a career out of the Navy. I know it’s what I’m meant to do. I think one of the reasons I feel so strongly about having a Navy career is because of my family members who were in the military and served.”

Grimes also participated in the Science Quiz Bowl for three years and is a National Honor Society member.

Grimes father, Richard, hails from the Bay Area and his mother, Carol, comes from the Philippines. He has one sister, Jessica, who is two years older and attends the University of Washington.