Liberty leading

Hewitt grad wants to be the best leader in the military she can be

Liberty Andrzejewski is seeking to become the best leader in the United States military that she can be.

Andrzejewski, a 2020 Hewitt-Trussville High School graduate, accepted her United States Military Academy appointment in February. The appointment means that out of a large pool of applicants, the Academy believes she is capable of graduating from the four-year program and becoming an officer in the U.S. military. She will be part of the Class of 2025 that reports  —  known as R-Day  —  to West Point on June 28.

“It’s a huge honor for me,” Andrzejewski said. “That was just a huge sense of relief and being overjoyed.”

Andrzejewski visited West Point a few summers ago for a leadership experience training week. What she learned, beyond the daily life of a cadet, was the camaraderie that goes along with it, and how cadets react to certain situations.

“It was something unlike anything else I’ve ever experienced, so it was something I really appreciated,” she said.

Andrzejewski attended Hewitt-Trussville High School for only three years, from 2018 to 2020. She was born in the U.S. and lived here until she was 6, but then lived in Portugal for 10 years, where her parents, Michael and Nina, were missionaries. Michael worked in risk management for a couple of years before going into the ministry, first serving at a small Blount County church then on to LaGrange, Georgia, before moving the family to Portugal. Michael also graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1997.

He played football at Army for a couple of years before he injured his knee. He underwent several surgeries and, as a result, was not commissioned an officer rank. He never experienced active duty. He moved back to Alabama to work in risk management. When the couple’s five kids — Brooklyn, Faith, Liberty, Trinity and Justice — were young, Michael did not push them to take his path. He waited for Liberty to bring up her idea to go to Army.

The first time Andrzejewski applied, she did not get appointed. She did, however, get sponsored to go to a prep school, Marion Military Institute, for a year. She’s been there the last year, building herself up physically and academically. The classes she’s taken will be similar to courses at Army.

“The year of delayed gratification is one that’ll serve her well and give her a head start on a lot of Class of 2025 that comes straight from high school,” Michael said.

Michael said his daughter’s journey has been more difficult than his was in the 1990s.

“The challenges that she had from being educated overseas in a completely different way, going from that environment and coming back never having learned in English, studied in English, that in and of itself academically was difficult,” he said.

For now, Liberty is not set on a subject to study at Army, though she does lean toward history or English.

“I would like to just prepare myself and grow in order to be the best leader in the military that I can be,” she said. “I really want to develop my leadership skills and how I deal with people.”

That preparation, she knows, will not be easy. Michael has told her about his experiences.

“I know all the experiences she’s going to have, all she’s going to learn, is going to be really fantastic,” he said. “We are very excited for her. But it’s a ton of work. And you really only get to revel in the experience and the joy and the thankfulness to go to a place like the Military Academy when you’re not there. Everything at the Academy is designed for you to fail. It is truly about what you do when you do fail, and how you react to failure, and the success that comes after repeated failures.”

On June 28, the whole family will drop Liberty off at R-Day. Before that, the family will take a few days to drive up the East Coast and spend some time in New York City. They may see her on Labor Day and Thanksgiving. However, Michael may see her once before that. At the end of the new cadets’ basic training, they spend almost a week out in the field. They have a grueling 10- to 12-mile march back to campus, where they’re inducted into the corps of cadets. This march is open to “old grads” to make the trek back with the new cadets. If Michael’s knee is in good enough shape and can hold up, he may participate, even if he ends up resting in the bed for three straight weeks later.

“It’ll be worth it,” he said.

Liberty agreed.

“I would be overjoyed,” she said. “I think that would be a great opportunity for my dad, and I’m sure I would definitely love to see him considering that I’m probably going to be tired out of my wits and missing home, so I feel like it’ll be a great opportunity.”

Now that the time is here, Liberty can’t help but think back. She remembered going to alumni events in Birmingham when she was younger. Mostly, there were men. Once, she met a female “old grad” and was starstruck. She had many questions but asked none of them due to nervousness. Part of her reason for going to the Military Academy is the hope that little girls look up to her one day.

“I know a lot of people have inspired and encouraged me to get where I am today,” she said. “I would not be where I am without all of the help and encouragement I’ve gotten.”

Andrzejewski is thinking about making a career in the military after graduation, beyond the mandatory active service years. Maybe she will commit to it for 20 years and enter the civilian world after that. For right now, who knows? A lot could change. After all, her career is just about to begin.

When Andrzejewski made her appointment official on her Instagram page, she mentioned how excited she was, how proud she was of the appointment. The last sentence she typed sums up her next four years.

“Now the hard part begins.”