Editor’s Note: “Hawks Uncovered” is a series that tells the often unknown stories of Hebron students and staff.

The road less traveled.

That is the road Betsy Allee has been taking her entire life.

Her childhood consisted of moving from coast to coast due to her father’s role in the Navy. She moved to a new location nine times before the age of 16, but was lucky enough to attend all four years at the same high school and found her passion — swimming. She swam on her high school’s varsity swim team, hoping to get a scholarship from the sport, but the universe had other plans for her. Instead of attending a traditional university, she was commissioned to swim for The U.S. Naval Academy (USNA). 

After graduating college, Allee was a first lieutenant leading the deck division. The division was the most junior rank and full of the youngest people within the Navy. She was able to lead people just like her — people who wanted to be a part of something bigger than themselves. It was not about money or fame, it was only about their country and how they could honor it. 

Growing up, Allee never had an allegiance to a specific city or state, just pride in the U.S. as a whole, and was willing to risk it all to serve for it. The Navy taught her loyalty and gave her a sense of family. After sleeping, eating and working with the same people every day for years, that became her true home. 

Allee retired from the Navy after six years of active duty and 17 years in the Navy reserve. Upon retirement, she decided to begin traveling on a new road — teaching. 

Allee grew up with what she called a “service-oriented mindset.” She believes in performing for the good of others, and that is why she decided to become a teacher after leaving the Navy. She wished to teach the kids about the nation she served and what it meant to truly be “service-oriented,” to motivate them to start helping others as well. 

It was a shared value set between the Navy and teaching that allowed Allee to pursue both. To Allee, it was always about helping and serving others — something being in the Navy and teaching gave her the opportunity to do. 

Teaching was something she always wanted to do, even before being recruited into the Navy. People allude to the idea that you cannot come back to a missed opportunity later on in life, but Allee is living proof you can. Instead of leaving high school and pursuing an education degree right away, she took an unexpected turn on the road into the Navy, but she came right back to the path she always wanted to journey on.