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More than 200 cadets graduate from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy

NEW LONDON — More than 200 cadets including eight Connecticut natives, made their way across the stage to become officers in the United States Coast Guard...

NEW LONDON -- More than 200 cadets including eight Connecticut natives, made their way across the stage to become officers in the United States Coast Guard.

Loved ones along with this year’s keynote speaker U.S. National Security advisor John Bolton joined the proud graduates  at the Coast Guard academy in New London.

“We’ve all gone through so much, we’ve gone through the pleasures and the pains of this place and just to be able to celebrate that it’s finally over and we get to and reach the goal that we envisioned is great,” graduate Alexander Hawley.

The academy is not just celebrating all the students of 2019 have accomplished so far but also just how diverse the group was this year. Four international students, the highest number of Asian American graduates in the school’s history and stories like Kyla Hughley’s.

“I’m the only one in the military in my family but people in uniform,  it always gave me chills because I wanted to do something special, something that was bigger than myself,” Hughley said.

She will be the only minority from this class heading to flight.

“And I will hopefully be amongst eight black female pilots that are the only female black pilots in the coast guard  in the coast guard as a whole.”

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