Dia Beri

On June 30, less than two weeks after PHS graduation, Dia Beri ’25 will begin Cadet Basic Training at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, a six week long program known as “the beast,” designed to ensure that cadets are prepared for their next 12 years in the army — four years at the academy, five years of required activeduty service, and three years in the reserves.

“I’m really excited, but at the same time, I’m terrified. For six weeks, they take away our phones, and we’re going to be out in the field learning how to use rifles for the first time,” said Beri. “We’re going to be dirty. We’re going to be stressed. We’re going to be running on only four hours of sleep every night. And the upperclassmen are going to be yelling at us.”

In her four years at West Point, Beri will train to be an officer in the U.S. military while earning a Bachelor of Science degree. Beri first developed an interest in West Point during freshman year, motivated by a desire to find satisfaction and fulfillment in life. “I feel like everyone has their purpose on earth,” said Beri. “For me, it’s defending a nation that has given my family and so many other immigrant families so much to work with.”

Beri’s high school experience has, in her words, “revolved around” her goal of getting into West Point. West Point requires applicants to not only submit their GPA, SAT, and essays, but also secure a recommendation from a U.S. Congress member (in Beri’s case, Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman), and complete a six-part Candidate Fitness Assessment. For Beri, the intensepreparation leading up to it required not only physical, but also mental, growth.

“I’ve never [put] as [much] dedication in my life as [I did in] preparing for the West Point fitness test. Then mentally, my mindset about becoming better at things completely changed. I thought that there were some things that you really couldn’t change about yourself, and then I realized that if you worked hard enough ... you can change those things,” said Beri.

West Point requires students to follow a rigid schedule throughout the school year: the day begins at 6:30 a.m., includes several classes, military training, mandatory athletic activity, and an 11:30 p.m. curfew.

“I don’t really enjoy the athletic part as much as the academic part, but I know that there are certain things that I [will] enjoy, like teamwork with friends,” said Beri. “And my favorite saying that I learned from this process is ‘two is one and one is none.’

Because when you have two people, you have someone that’s always having your back, and if you have one, you’re alone; there’s no one that has your back, you’re basically dead.”

Following graduation, Beri will be a second lieutenant, leading a platoon of around 30 to 50 soldiers in operations concerning aspects such as cybersecurity, military intelligence, or infantry. However, for now, Beri is focused on what lies just a few weeks ahead.

“I think one of my goals is to not give up when the going gets really tough. I feel like once I tackle that fear of not knowing how hard something is or what’s lying at the end, I’ll really be able to do things that I never thought I could do,” said Beri.

Yael Dveer

This past year, Yael Dveer ’25 moved from Israel to Princeton with her family, following political instability in Israel. This coming year, Dveer plans on moving again — this time, taking a gap year for a backpacking and volunteering trip around the United States and South America instead of attending college.

“We moved here, [in] a very quick decision ... because of the war in Israel. And when we decided to move, I told my mom that I’m not going to be ready to go to college right [after] I finish high school ... [the gap year] will also [give] me more time to go volunteering ... in South America — which is something I wanted to do for a long time — and a few [more] months for me to live in the U.S. and get more used [to] American culture,” said Dveer.

In Israel, it’s mandatory for high school graduates to enlist in the Israeli army for several years. Following this, it’s common for Israelis to go on a backpacking trip (literally, “the big hike”) for several months. Though Dveer won’t be in Israel, nor serving in the Israeli army, she still wanted to experience this Israeli rite of passage.

“For a person to develop and grow, they have to travel and explore the world not only in the U.S. or rich countries,” said Dveer. “I’ve been wanting to travel for [as long as] I can remember, because in Israel, backpacking and camping is a really big part of the culture there. I wanted to continue that tradition in my own way.”

Though her plans aren’t finalized yet, Dveer plans on participating in an environmental volunteer program in the Amazon region in Peru and then go backpacking independently, all while practicing her Spanish.

“[There are] so many countries that I want to go to ... Chile and Argentina, to Bucha, to the Patagonia Mountain range, and to Brazil, because I love Bossa Nova music and Portuguese,” said Dveer.

Dveer eventually plans on settling in the United States after a few months of backpacking, adjusting to American culture and preparing for her studies in higher education as a physics major at the University of Maryland in the fall of 2026. For now, though, she’s focused on taking a step back before diving into academics again.

“There’s no rush to get us a head start in your career — everything’s going to be here in 10 years. I think taking some time after high school, especially [after] Princeton High School, where everything is so stressful and unnecessarily competitive ... is a good [way] to discover yourself — at the end of the day, that’s what’s important. You’re living your life. You’re learning the American dream. You’re not living anything else,” said Dveer.