Sebastian Corrales discovered Church Farm School in Exton through A Better Chance in Philadelphia, which recommended it to the then-sixth-grader based on its small class sizes, well-rounded curriculum, and strong wrestling program.

“I got easily distracted at my old charter school, where there were 30 kids in every classroom,” Corrales said.

He matriculated as a boarding student as a seventh-grader, and last month, at the school’s 97th Annual Commencement Exercises, he received his diploma, Bible, and offer of appointment from the U.S. Naval Academy.

Acceptance to the Naval Academy is a rigorous process – said Commander David Augustin, USNA Blue and Gold Officer – with approximately 5,000 candidates receiving nominations annually, and of those, only about 1,400 receiving appointments.

Within the CFS community, there was little doubt that Corrales would reach his goal; a stellar student, he was also Student Congress Vice President, Honor Council President, a Cottage Prefect, Admission Tour Guide, Student Ambassador, Recipient of the Union League’s Good Citizenship Award, and a Varsity Wrestling Captain with a 111-21 record who qualified for states twice.

After the Naval Academy, Corrales hopes to become a midshipman, as his own father’s Cuban family was saved from an overcrowded ship lost in the Gulf of Mexico during the Mariel boatlift crisis in 1980, and it was the Navy that came to their rescue.

“I want to be able to help families like mine and invite them into their new home as the Navy did for us,” he said.

Do Nhat Nam, or “Nam” as he is known at CFS, came to the school as a freshman after leaving his hometown of Hanoi, Vietnam, to study in the U.S. at a small middle school in Texas. Nam was a bit of a wunderkind even before setting foot on American soil; he had authored books, given a popular TEDxKids talk, and was adept at photography, graphic design, singing, piano, foreign languages, and more.

His diversity of experiences only grew while he was on campus, participating in the Yale Young Global Scholars and New York Times Investigative Journalism programs, founding the nonprofit “Sing with Joy,” which provides free music education to children, and achieving success as a member of the CFS Choir and CFS Singers (the school’s a cappella group). In fact, it was through choir that he realized his dream of becoming a music conductor like his mentor, longtime CFS Choir Director Gary Gress.

In the fall, Nam will head to Pomona College in California, having received a full scholarship through the QuestBridge Scholars Program, which matches outstanding low-income high school seniors with the nation’s most selective colleges and universities.

During his valedictory address at CFS’s Commencement, Nam acknowledged that, despite the poise he portrayed when he arrived at the school, he was terrified that he wouldn’t be accepted.

“Throughout middle school, I had struggled to belong, and I feared that CFS would be the same,” he said. “Instead, I was showered with care and love from students and faculty alike. I instantly found people I could connect to on many levels, who pushed me to put my guard down and eradicated whatever fears I had in the beginning. These are the same people that have been resolutely by my side during the past four years in this collective CFS journey. They taught me to believe in myself and fostered my growth into the young man standing in front of you today.

“In my college essay, I likened the power outages that happened in my hometown while I was growing up to the darkness that I had felt when I first came to the U.S. The people of CFS have brought light into my life, and this light will continue to shine bright in my heart wherever I go.”

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