For DeMatha’s Derek Santos ‘there is no bad direction’ when God leads
For Derek Santos – who graduates this year from DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland – April 14 is a date he says he will never forget.
“It was a huge day and a huge moment of relief,” Santos said of the day he learned that he has been accepted to the Naval Academy Prep School (NAPS).
Located in Newport, Rhode Island, NAPS is a prep school for those entering the Naval Academy.
After waiting for months to learn whether he had been appointed to Naval Academy, Santos was at school “when I noticed my mom was blowing up my phone texting me.”
Santos said he missed the texts because he had his phone turned off. “I have just come out of an exam – which I passed by the way – when I saw all the texts from my mom. At first I thought I was in trouble and I did something wrong.”
That dread turned to celebration when he learned his mom, Cintia Santos, was not mad at him, but had good news to share. Cinta and Derek live in Rockville, Maryland and are parishioners of St. Mary’s Catholic Church there.