Landen Elliott has his life pretty much mapped out for the next two decades.
A member of Turlock High’s Navy ROTC, Elliott picked up a $250,000 scholarship, courtesy of Uncle Sam, to attend the University of Idaho starting in the fall.
Elliott was one of eight THS seniors to be honored on Wednesday — some were presented with signing bonuses or scholarships — for their commitment to serve in the U.S. military.
Kody Halliday will receive $36,000 as an eight-year commitment bonus to serve in the U.S. Air Force; Colton Mauksch received a $10,250 signing bonus to join the ranks of the U.S. Army, while Christina Bento and Kevin Perez each received $10,000 signing bonuses to join the U.S. Navy.
Marcis David Pernillo, Alessandra Sofia Mendoza Avila, and Jordan Zapata will join the U.S. Marine Corps.
Once Elliott completes his studies in Moscow, Idaho, he’s required to serve four years in the Navy. He plans to work in the cyber-security field.
“I know that I’m going to stay in for at least eight to get the full medical benefits for my family, as well as housing aid and those kinds of things,” said Elliott, who is not sure if he’ll continue to serve in the military after eight years. “When I do retire from the military, I want to try to enter the FBI for cyber-crime because I’ll be able to retire again after 10 years. So, I’ll be around 40 years old with two retirements, and then after that I’m hoping to be a volunteer pastor at a local church.”
Elliott had designs on attending Texas A&M, but needed to be an in-state student at a Texas junior college for one year. Elliott will graduate high school with an associate’s degree, so another year in junior college would’ve been redundant.
“The University of Idaho is in the top six in terms of computer science for the entire nation, so it’s a really good tech school,” said Elliott. “It’s a nice fit.”
