SOUTH FORSYTH -- A Pinecrest Academy alumnus recently became the private parochial school's first to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Cadet Erik Michael Hegeman was commissioned as a second lieutenant at the end of May in the U.S. Army within the Medical Corps branch and said he plans to attend medical school at the Uniformed Services University Hospital of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland.

“Beginning June 10, I will be attending a six-week basic officer leadership course at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas,” Hegeman said.

The 2012 Pinecrest graduate concentrated his West Point studies in life sciences and was a member of the Nordic ski team at the military academy in New York.

During his commissioning ceremony, which usually occurs a few hours after graduation, Hegeman chose Col. Nicholas Satriano of Cumming to read his commissioning and give the oath.

Satriano was a mentor and a friend to Hegeman throughout his high school and collegiate career.

After his commissioning, he chose his parents, Lynette Hegeman-Bunce of Alpharetta and Michael Hegeman of Cumming, to pin him with his epaulet, or shoulder boards to indicate his status as second lieutenant.

The week after he graduated, Hegeman married his high school sweetheart and fellow Pinecrest graduate, Kaitlyn Hegeman (Mathis), who recently graduated from the University of Georgia.

“I eagerly await this next chapter of my life and feel blessed to have had the experience to attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point,” Hegeman said. “Most of all, I look forward to serving my country as an Army physician specializing in orthopedics or general surgery.”