Morse celebrated his recent graduation from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in his stately, full-dress uniform. The commencement activities lasted a full week, not just a day. He was joined by his parents, Betty Bennett-Morse and Duane Morse of Saratoga, and his brother, along with other family members and eight friends from his hometown.

Morse is the first in his family to graduate from West Point. He doesn't come from a family with a long military history.

"He decided this on his own--to go there," Betty said proudly. "He didn't have anyone to follow. He really was a trailblazer."

When he graduated from Saratoga High School in June 2000, Morse started the process of applying to West Point.

He ended up going to UC-Davis for a year, where he majored in economics, but said he missed structure in his schedule. As he came to learn more about West Point, his mother suggested he resubmit his application to the four-year, all-expenses-paid prestigious institution that's been compared to the Ivy League schools.

"No one seems to know that much about West Point out here in California," Morse said. "It was something challenging and something different."

Morse learned his nomination to West Point had been sponsored by Congressman Tom Campbell (R-Ca.), who left a message on the family's answering machine. They saved that message.

Morse said his "inspiration" to make it through West Point has been his close friend and classmate, Jeff Swanberg. The 18-year-old Saratoga High senior died in January 2001 in a car crash not long after he'd learned he'd been accepted into the U.S. Naval Academy.

West Point is not only a four-year academic commitment, but it also includes five years of active service in the U.S. Army as an officer. Before he fulfills his service, Morse is headed to flight school on July 25 for the next 1 1/2 years. He graduated in the top 15 to 20 percent of his class, although the final rankings are not yet completed. Karen Hyde, Saratoga High's assistant principal, said she believes Morse to be the first, or at least one of the very few, to have graduated from the academy.

"The classes I took at Saratoga High were really challenging and set up the base for me to do well at West Point," Morse said. "But the classes at West Point were far and above more challenging than any classes I'd ever taken."

The past four years haven't been easy for Morse. The academy takes civilians and turns them into a cadets, Morse said. This means not only learning the history of the school, its customs and traditions, but also rigorous college curriculum, extensive military training and lots of little details.

His "plebe," or first year, Morse had to learn how many lights are in Cullum Hall and how many gallons of water the reservoir on campus can hold.

"One of the best things we always say is that West Point is a great place to be from, but it's a horrible place to be at," Morse said. "Every single cadet thinks about quitting."

While his fellow Saratoga High classmates held summer jobs and took relaxing vacations, Morse's past summers have been spent in cadet basic training, field training, military development school and cadet troop leadership training. He graduates with the rank of second lieutenant in the Army, majoring in systems engineering.

Until flight school, Morse is enjoying not having to wake up at 6 a.m. and assemble at 6:45 a.m. in uniform for breakfast formation. If he's 20 minutes late marching into the kitchen for breakfast, there are probably no consequences.

"There was no toleration at West Point of lying, cheating or stealing," he said.

When he missed class once his sophomore year, Morse learned to never do it again. He was assigned a walking tour, where he had to pace back in forth in a central area on campus for five hours.

Morse played sprint football at West Point, and has also been trained in everything from boxing and military movements to survival swimming.

"That's where they load you up with a bunch of gear and push you into the water," he said.

Morse's father said he's proud his mature, focused son knows where he's headed and has a plan to get there.