Through hard work and dedication, Cadet Tom Westphal earned a chance to weigh in on national security beyond the classroom setting.

Westphal will travel to Lexington, Va., this week to meet with senior U.S. military leaders at the George C. Marshall ROTC Seminar Westphal will have the opportunity to interact with the key leaders at the conference and discuss issues related to national security.

“I'm happy that I won, it means I'm doing something right," the senior political science major said.

Westphal said he gets to go to the conference for being the top cadet in the senior class of the WSU ROTC program.

He received his award and recognition for his achievements at an award ceremony Friday. Westphal won the honor for a 3.97 GPA in the Honors College and for excellence in leadership, physical fitness and knowledge of military science.

He said these components are measured during a 35-day summer course to determine each cadet’s ranking across the nation.

Westphal said the ranking is out of 4,400 and is what determines each cadet’s assignment when they are commissioned into the officer core, which will happen once he swears an oath after graduation to become an officer instead of a cadet.

“It’s all very mathematical,” Westphal said.

Despite receiving this honor, Westphal said he doesn’t think he did anything all that special. He said he’s just doing the best he can in his program.

“I’m excited to go to the conference and listen to all these top generals speak and hopefully learn a little bit,” he said.

Lt. Col. Craig Whiteside, professor of military science at WSU, said Westphal was his best student last semester.

Whiteside said Westphal is a great representative for WSU because he is a top-rate student and cadet. He said Westphal deserves this honorary award and the chance to travel to the national security seminar this week.

“Tom adjusts and does what he has to do well and it works well for him,” he said.

Whiteside said Westphal has studied the high-ranking military structures, but it will really be a treat for him to interact with them himself, an opportunity well earned.

“There’s lots of people that are brilliant, but when you combine that with hard work that person can go pretty far,” he said.

Whiteside said Westphal served in fall 2008 as the Cougar Battalion Commander, which is a great honor as well as requiring a lot of hard work and dedication.

Westphal is scheduled to be commissioned in May, when he will take up duties as an Armor Lieutenant.

“I am honored to serve this country and the values that it was built on,” Westphal said. “I am very grateful to have this chance.”