WTOK-TV Meridian
Philadelphia High School student accepted into U.S. Naval Academy
Talease Griffin is the first African-American female at PHS to be nominated and accepted
By Emily Erikson
MERIDIAN, Miss. (WTOK) - Talease Griffin was the first African-American female student at Philadelphia High School to be nominated to the United States Naval Academy, and she has officially been accepted.
Griffin received a nomination from Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith and Congressman Michael Guest.
Griffin said as a small town girl she didn’t expect to be accepted or even nominated.
She said she is overwhelmed with joy.
“To make it this far and succeed is a great feeling. It makes me feel like now that I can truly accomplish anything that I set my mind to. I just want people who hear my story, watch my interviews, or see me in the paper to just think to themselves that they can do it. It’s not impossible. It’s possible, you’ve just got to stick with it till the end.”
Talease will graduate from Philadelphia High School in May, and she will attend the U.S. Naval Academy’s prep school this Fall for ten months before starting at the academy.