Hey! My name is Nelson Hardin and I am from Montclair, Virginia. I am the second of four children. My older brother is currently attending N.C. State University and my younger two brothers are in the ninth and seventh grades. My dad is a retired Air Force colonel and was actually the one who first got me interested in the Coast Guard Academy. I went to AIM and I absolutely loved it. As a senior in high school, the Coast Guard was the only school I applied to. On December 23, 2010 I received a phone call telling me that I got into the Coast Guard Academy Scholars (CGAS) Program. I went to Marion, Alabama for a year and am now coming into the Academy excited and ready for all it has to offer!

In high school, I was active doing a lot of public speaking, writing for my school paper, participating in track and field (mostly sprinting), football, basketball, and soccer. At the Academy though I plan to take on boxing, something I’ve never done, but here you have the opportunity to try so many new things and I encourage you to take advantage of it while you can! If you have any comments or questions feel free to email me at any time at Nelson.D.Hardin@uscga.edu.