In July, Matt Pope will be heading to a military institution many can only dream of attending.

Driving down a Hertford County road on Dec. 30 after a long day of hunting, Pope received a text message from his mom, Angela, telling him U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers had tried to reach him at home and that he needed to call her back.

“When I called her, she told me I had gotten into West Point off of her nomination,” Pope said. “I was in shock for a few minutes and could only just sit there.”

The 17-year-old Nash Central High School senior will be the first in the Pope family to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point, a four-year experience valued at approximately $500,000.

“I’m proud to announce that Matthew Glenn Pope has received a full appointment to the U.S. Military Academy for the class starting July 2012,” Ellmers stated in a press release. “Matthew’s impressive academic background and extracurricular activities serve as a model to carry on West Point’s rich traditions and will make North Carolina proud. I look forward to following his progress and congratulate him and his family on this important achievement.”

Pope said he was notified Thursday that he was the recipient of a four-year Army ROTC scholarship to N.C. State University.

Even though he already has been accepted to attend the Citadel and is still waiting to hear back from the Virginia Military Institute, his acceptance into West Point sealed the deal.

After moving from Kenly to Nashville in 2000, Pope attended public school. He earned his black belt in Tae Kwon Do when he was 12 years old and engaged in a wide range of extracurricular activities, including soccer, baseball and basketball.

“I’ve always been interested in military history,” Pope said. “About halfway through my freshman year, something happened, and I just became extremely interested in attending West Point and started working toward that goal.”

Not limiting himself to just sports, Pope also became very active in his youth group at Nashville United Methodist Church by serving as the senior class representative for the youth group’s leadership team. He also serves as a junior firefighter for the Nashville Fire Department, works on the hunter safety team for his high school and consistently scores high marks in all of his classes, including Advanced Placement classes.

“I know West Point looks for well-rounded people, but I wasn’t really doing all of these different things just for that,” Pope said. “I was doing those things because that’s who I am, and I enjoy serving.”

In order to attend West Point, Pope had to receive a nomination from a U.S. representative, one of the state’s two U.S. senators or the vice president, he said.

Pope traveled to Greenville in October to interview before a panel of doctors and military personnel in order to receive U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan’s nomination. After he received Ellmers’ nomination – he was going to West Point.

“My parents were crying because they know how hard I’ve been working on getting in to West Point,” Pope said. “My dad would always read over my essays, and my mom would show me little grammatical stuff and how I could make my words sound better.”

He said he plans to pursue a major in international relations and minor in either business or economics, and that he is interested in serving in the aviation branch of the U.S. Army upon graduation.

While Pope said he is not sure he wants to make a career out of serving in the U.S. Army yet, he will be required to serve five years active duty and three years in the reserves upon graduation.

After graduation, he said he can either serve the full 20 years required in the U.S. Army and retire at age 42, or he can work with the state department and travel overseas.

“At West Point, I hope that my leadership abilities will be further developed. This past summer, I attended a leadership seminar at N.C. Wesleyan College that was sponsored by (General) Hugh Shelton. I went there, and I learned different leadership techniques that I could incorporate into leadership ability,” Pope said. “I hope West Point will prepare me to be a leader in the U.S. Army. When I graduate, I will be able to effectively lead my men, and the character I possess will be evident to the men under my command.”

He said his only fear is failing the people who see his potential and letting down his family and friends.

“West Point produces great leaders with character and morals. The government and a lot of companies want those kinds of leaders,” Pope said. “I hope we can get as many people from North Carolina as we can up there who will be great leaders for the future. I thank God, and I cannot express enough of my thanks to Congresswoman Ellmers for her selecting me to represent North Carolina at West Point.”

Pope’s father, Tim, said words cannot describe what he felt when he found out his oldest son would be attending West Point.

“This has been a goal of his since his freshman year, and we have seen how he has worked extremely hard to get to this position,” Tim Pope said. “We were humbled and proud of him. When we asked him why he wanted to go to West Point, he said he wanted to get the best education possible and serve his country.”

Pope’s mother, Angela, said she was overwhelmed with emotion and excitement in light of the fact that everything her son was working so hard to accomplish was coming true for him.

“I know West Point will push him to his fullest potential. We’ve raised him as best we could, and now it’s his time,” she said. “He’s a very determined individual, and I know he will make a difference in this world.”

Pope will report to West Point between 6 and 9:30 a.m. July 2 for Reception Day, after which he won’t return home until Thanksgiving. The only communication will be through letters, he said.

Pope laughed when he thought of his first day at West Point.

“I probably won’t get long to say goodbye to my parents that day before I start getting torn down, yelled at and drilled with the basics,” he said. “That’s what they’re going to do. They’re going to tear me down, make me feel like nothing and then build me back up into a better man.”