For the Class of 2025, their motto isn't just words — it’s how they faced every challenge during their 47-month experience here at West Point and it's how they’ll continue to lead as the U.S. Army’s newest officers.

For the Class of 2025, their motto isn't just words — it’s how they faced every challenge during their 47-month experience here at West Point and it's how they’ll continue to lead as the U.S. Army’s newest officers.

For the Class of 2025, their motto isn't just words — it’s how they faced every challenge during their 47-month experience here at West Point and it's how they’ll continue to lead as the U.S. Army’s newest officers.

For the Class of 2025, their motto isn't just words — it’s how they faced every challenge during their 47-month experience here at West Point and it's how they’ll continue to lead as the U.S. Army’s newest officers.

For the Class of 2025, their motto isn't just words — it’s how they faced every challenge during their 47-month experience here at West Point and it's how they’ll continue to lead as the U.S. Army’s newest officers.

For the Class of 2025, their motto isn't just words — it’s how they faced every challenge during their 47-month experience here at West Point and it's how they’ll continue to lead as the U.S. Army’s newest officers.

For the Class of 2025, their motto isn't just words — it’s how they faced every challenge during their 47-month experience here at West Point and it's how they’ll continue to lead as the U.S. Army’s newest officers.

For the Class of 2025, their motto isn't just words — it’s how they faced every challenge during their 47-month experience here at West Point and it's how they’ll continue to lead as the U.S. Army’s newest officers.

For the Class of 2025, their motto isn't just words — it’s how they faced every challenge during their 47-month experience here at West Point and it's how they’ll continue to lead as the U.S. Army’s newest officers.

For the Class of 2025, their motto isn't just words — it’s how they faced every challenge during their 47-month experience here at West Point and it's how they’ll continue to lead as the U.S. Army’s newest officers.

“Together We Thrive” is a motto the U.S. Military Academy Class of 2025 lived and thrived by, as 1,002 members – 82% of those who entered on Reception Day four years ago – graduated on May 24 at Michie Stadium in front of family, friends, academic and military mentors.

On an overcast morning, Cadet First Captain Anna C. Robinson led the graduating class onto the Michie Stadium field to receive its diplomas and commissioning oath as the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, was the graduation speaker for the momentous occasion.

Overall, it was a successful collection of cadets as 50 members of the class earned scholarships to immediately achieve their masters’ degree, and 41 members of the class received the recognition of Honor Graduate, which reflects the overall excellence in cadet performance – academic, military and physical pillars. There were also 52 cadets who were Gold Star recipients, which were cadets who achieved a grade point average of 3.67 or higher.

After the hat toss and the celebration began, new 2nd Lt. Matthew Jack found his family and rejoiced in the moment with those closest to him, including his older brother, John, who graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2022.

“I couldn’t have done this without any of these people as they supported me through everything,” Jack reflected about his family’s encouragement through the years.

Jack was selected for the academy out of Guam and spent much of his youth in Yokosuka, Japan, with a dad who served and retired from the Navy.

With a brother who is serving and a father who once served, he was emotional about becoming an officer and an official member of the Long Gray Line.

“It’s pretty surreal. I don’t think it’s fully sunk in yet,” Jack explained. “But knowing the legacy that I’m joining and the amazing group of people who I’m going to be able to claim as my own – it’s just really surreal and incredible.”

During his time at the academy as a General Psychology major, Jack grew and built his resume to prepare himself to be a leader of men and women as an officer in the U.S. Army’s Signal Corps. However, things didn’t always go as planned, particularly from the beginning when he had to endure a significant injury during Cadet Basic Training, but it also taught him how to persist through adversity.

“The biggest thing for me was perseverance,” Jack recalled. “I got injured pretty bad my plebe year, specifically over the summer when I dislocated both my shoulders during Beast, so recovering from that while dealing with the stresses of plebe year was difficult.

“I couldn’t excel physically, but I thought, ‘Where can I excel?’ given the setback I had,” Jack added. “So, I focused my efforts on academics and the social part. The biggest growth point I had then and throughout my time here was my discipline and my ability to commit to things that were hard.”

For Jack, what did overcoming that initial adversity teach him about himself and his ability to conquer that hurdle?

“I would say that if you persevere, you have to actually care and want the thing that you’re going for,” Jack said. “If you really care about your goals and you really go for it, then you’ll get lucky, and it’ll work out for the best.”

On a day where Jack graduated with a thousand of his classmates, the group achieved its axiom, “Together We Thrive,” and it had a deep meaning to him.

“The most important thing that I’m coming away with from West Point is not my diploma, but it’s the people who I get to associate myself with and the people who I get to claim as lifelong friends going forward,” Jack concluded. “For me, ‘Together We Thrive,’ it’s like the embodiment of that. It’s the embodiment of the people who I’ve met, the successes we made as a group, the connections that I’ve made with them, and those connections, friendships and accomplishments will endure forever.”