Jaden Hill has lived his entire life in one Maricopa home. Now, the Heritage Academy senior is setting his sights far beyond.

Hill recently earned three congressional nominations: the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the U.S. Air Force Academy, a rare accomplishment.

He made his choice almost instantly. Hill is going to be a Navy officer.

“About a year ago I discovered that I was interested in pursuing something that was bigger than myself, something a little bit more than a traditional college,” Hill said. “The things I value most are education but also serving a greater purpose and serving others and making the lives of others better.”

Hill’s journey toward the Naval Academy began with a rigorous application process, which included not only academic transcripts and test scores but also an interview with staff from Arizona’s congressional offices. He was one of just 15 students in the state to receive a nomination from U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, Democrat of Arizona, for West Point. He also earned nominations from U.S. Rep. Eli Crane, Republican representing Maricopa, to both the Naval and Air Force Academies.

These are not easy letters to receive.

“You have to sit in front of a panel of either Senate staff or congressional staffers who basically grill you for 15 minutes,” Hill said, “and depending on how you perform the interview, along with various other metrics, that’s how they decide who they select.”

Hill credits his poise and experience for helping him stand out. “I’ve actually had a lot of experience with interviews and that’s something that’s not particularly true about a lot of kids my age,” he said. “At the time of the interview, I had just turned 17, but I already had held two jobs.”

Hill was working for the City of Maricopa in its youth sports programming and also had a job at In-N-Out Burger. Hill said he thinks he has “a good ability to perform under pressure.”

That ability paid off when he faced a room full of high-ranking officials.

“I was in a room that was full of generals in the Army, guys that work with Mark Kelly directly, tons of guys that had served in high positions in the military,” reminisced Hill. “I walk in there and I tell myself, ‘Hey, these are normal people.’ And I walk in there and just talk like it’s a normal conversation.”

“I like to say, if you put enough effort and hard work into something, it makes you undeniable. And that’s how you build confidence.”

Every detail mattered.

“You wouldn’t even be able to guess how long I was trying to pick a color tie. That was probably the hardest decision I had to make that morning. I was thinking about that for days.”

Hill settled on the blue tie.

After the interview, Hill had to wait. And wait.

“Old school envelopes. You let the suspense build on you,” he said. “The most excited-slash-terrifying, moment of my life was opening the mailbox, and I take out an envelope and it says Sen. Mark Kelly on it. I opened it up and the first word I see is ‘Congratulations.’ And boy, that was one of the happiest moments of my life.”

He ran straight to his parents. “I was in the living room with my mom and dad. Ran to my mom, gave her a hug. Dad joins. It was amazing.”

It wasn’t easy turning down the prestige of West Point, but the Naval Academy fits squarely in Hill’s long-term goals. He wants to go to explore the frontier of space.

“I want to become an astronaut,” he said. “Space is something that’s been really one of my biggest passions for a while. I want to go to Mars.”

The Naval Academy produced more astronauts than any other undergraduate institution in the country with 54 astronaut alumni having gone to space. That includes Alan Shepard, the first American in space, and James Lovell, commander of the famed Apollo 13 mission.

“I’m going to major in engineering,” said Hill, before adding some other ambitions. “I’m actually going to take some pre-med classes just to bolster my resume. I’m going to branch as a naval aviator pilot, fly fighter jets.”

And that’s just step one.

“After I complete my service as a pilot, I want to then go to medical school, which the military will pay for,” Hill said. “That’s another dream of mine, to be a doctor. And then again, when you’re applying to NASA, you want to be as broad in your knowledge as possible.”

Hill’s plan to become a naval officer, fighter pilot, astronaut and possibly physician is all part of what he calls his excitement for life.

“I’m a very excited person who has lots of ambitions for my life,” he said.

Despite his wide horizons, Hill remains grounded in the values he learned growing up in Maricopa. “My parents moved here in 2001 … I was born in ’07 and I’ve been here ever since,” he said. “Same house. Same city. I love it. It’s been amazing watching this place grow.”

He named his father, a teacher at Heritage Academy, as his greatest inspiration. “I’ve seen him and how his values have kind of shaped how he’s raised me,” Hill said.

“He puts other people and what he can do to serve others ahead of everybody else. He doesn’t care about how much money he makes or the kind of house he lives in. He cares about making an impact every day that he wakes up.”

A math enthusiast who now finds “beauty” in calculus, Hill is unafraid to be ambitious and encourages others to be the same.

“I know a lot of people are being pushed to quote unquote, be realistic about things,” he said. “I’d say take that and throw it out of the window, man. Do what you want to do. Do what you love to do, embrace discomfort. Get out of your comfort zone. Run that marathon, lift those weights, read that book, take that class, apply to that college.”

His message to his peers?

“Dream big.”

“The sky is literally not the limit anymore because we can go to space now.”

A big leap from little Maricopa.