It didn't come as a surprise when Laura Sherrill set her sights on attending the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in King's Point, New York.
Growing up in Ketchikan, Sherrill had watched as her brother and sister both left to attend the academy after receiving congressional nominations. Her father, Troy Sherrill, also attended the academy.
"I feel like I've always known I wanted to go to the Merchant Marine academy," said Sherrill in a recent interview with the Daily News. "My father, he went there, and then it kind of solidified when my sister got accepted and went. I was in middle school. And then I was like, 'OK, well, my sister's going, my brother's probably going to go, this is something I can look into."