Senior Shaun Lovely will conclude his high school career this June as a highly decorated officer for the Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (NJROTC) program at Princess Anne High School and Bayside High School.
Having been a part of NJROTC for four years, Lovely notes that the program is the “absolute best thing in the world. I love it.”
During his sophomore year, Lovely served as the Assistant Administrative Officer, and during his junior year, he served as the Administrative Officer and the Assistant Orienteering Commander.
“My biggest accomplishment would definitely be obtaining XO of my unit.” Lovely has reached his goal and is the Executive Officer (XO) of the 2025-2026 Princess Anne Bayside High School NJOTC Unit.
Lovely has learned a lot about himself and others. Lovely has learned how to overcome multiple obstacles that he has been facing every single year. Now, as the XO, he has learned how to easily overcome obstacles that could happen in the future.
Lovely looks up to Lieutenant Commander Jason Houser (USN Ret), the Senior Naval Science instructor for NJROTC. After four years, LCDR Houser has impacted Lovley’s life significantly. “I genuinely don’t think I would be who I am or where I am without his help.” Lovely says, “He has taught me how to be a man, a leader, a good citizen, [and] he’s helped me get into colleges.”
In addition to school and NJROTC, Lovely enjoys scuba diving in his free time and when he was in seventh grade, he became certified for it. He has been to Lake Phoenix in Virginia and the Florida Keys to go scuba diving. The deepest Lovely has gone was around 80 feet.
Lovely thinks of himself as outgoing and a fun person, but when he needs to flip on the switch to be serious, he can. One of the biggest things he says he’s learned during his time in ROTC is when to be a friend and when to be strict. It’s not something he does often, though. He says he prefers to be the person that people go to for advice or just to talk, not the person people don’t want to be around. “I like my cadets to be able to come to me and ask me questions,” Lovely says.
After graduation, Lovely is attending Virginia Military Institute because of its ROTC program. He plans on commissioning into the United States Navy. “I want to become a naval officer and have a great career,” adding that his motivation comes from his future dreams.
