Behind the Balance: Katie Grochalski ’24 — Keydet Rifle

Virginia Military Institute’s cadet-athletes have to juggle cadet life, heavy academic course loads, and their NCAA Division I sport. Committed to both academic and athletic pursuits, balancing their rigorous schedule in both sports and school requires a certain level of commitment and discipline. Behind the Balance is a series that focuses on those cadet-athletes and how they handle the hurdles of the day-to-day.  

Katie Grochalski ’24 was taught to shoot a simple action revolver at the age of 8 by her father. She grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania and by the age of 12, she was taught to shoot a .22. By 14, she was allowed to handle any gun that was in the house, if she were to lock it back up and demonstrate proper gun safety. 

“I grew up shooting groundhogs on my property and raccoons because we had chickens,” she said.  

She always wanted to hunt with her father, but she’s not a morning person. Instead, she started diving into other activities. Her initial aspiration was to be a fashion designer — it’s something she had said since kindergarten. She loved creating, sewing, and drawing. She also loved to dance. So, when she announced she wanted to be a Navy SEAL, it was a shock to her parents.  

“My parents were completely blindsided because I never told them I wanted to be a SEAL,” she said. 

The career change was prompted by a teacher when she was in the third grade who would bring in the newspaper every Wednesday. On one Wednesday, the headline regarded SEAL Team Six taking down Osama Bin Laden.  

The self-proclaimed lazy swimmer veered off the path of wanting to be a SEAL and settled on the Marine Corps by the time she reached the seventh grade. Grochalski, a psychology major, will be commissioning into the Marines after graduation.  

“All my friends from public school were Navy, Air Force, Army, so, I just rounded it out as a Marine,” she said. “And ever since seventh grade, this is all I ever wanted to do.” 

She said her family tried to persuade her to do something else, but her mind was set.  

“My response to them was whenever I turn 18, I’m going to do it anyway, so either you love me and you’re with me or you don’t talk to me,” she said. “I’ve been on this journey ever since. I taught myself how to run and taught myself how to do pull ups. I was a dancer growing up, so learning from elegance and grace into being a warfighter was completely different.” 

Joining Junior ROTC in high school, she first started with drill, but was drawn to the sport of rifle.  

“I was a year behind most people on the team because I joined as a sophomore, instead of as a freshman. But man, I loved it,” she said. “Doing rifle gave me a sense of stability, taught me how to really be a person and look at myself. I had an inferiority complex, and rifle taught me how to calm myself down and think through things properly.” 

Junior and senior year of high school, Grochalski transferred to Massanutten Military Academy, which is modeled after Virginia Military Institute. It seemed like the proper track — after high school to attend VMI.  

She found that rifle served as her own personal time, something that she could devote only to herself. Any big decisions or thoughts occurred at the range, she said. The solid black powder, the popping of rifles, it had a calming effect on her, so much so that she could even fall asleep at the range.  

“I think the discipline is fantastic. It does a lot with your mentality and mindfulness. It teaches you how to calm yourself to the point where I can tell my heart rate. I can sit here and physically feel my body shake because my heart rate,” she said.  

Her time at a military high school also instilled discipline, along with her training on the range.  

“I had to eat the same thing every single day. I had to have three meals a day. I had to make sure I worked out the same way every single day. How to be a level head, because I was not. Every Marine is a rifleman, so why not start early?” 

On the team, in the classroom, and beyond 

She got involved with VMI’s rifle team by coming to a rifle match at VMI while she was a senior in high school. She toured the school a bit and was introduced to the rifle coach Lt. Col. Bill Bither. Her trip was cut short due to an impending snowstorm, but when she returned to VMI as a rat, she met with Bither and was on the team. 

Cadet-athletes at VMI not only have their responsibilities with their selected sport but cadet duties on top of that.  Cadets are also required to take physical fitness classes twice a week, participate in ROTC all four years, prepare for room and uniform inspections, practice for parade, guard duty, and more.

Grochalski has a stacked schedule, which includes waking up daily at 6:30 a.m. for formation at 7 a.m. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, she’s the drummer for formation, so she has to head to the band room prior to formation. After that, she heads back to her room, and if there’s time before her 10 a.m. class she’ll nap. She has three or four classes a day, depending on the day, but wraps up around 3 p.m. She has an hour after classes before practice for rifle begins at 4 p.m. 

“I’ll have an hour of me time to get things done; do any miscellaneous things,” she said.  

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, she lifts after she shoots at the range. By 9:30 p.m., she’s onto rifle formation.  

Wednesdays and Fridays, she teaches ballroom dance in the evening for the Ballroom Dance Club.  

“I love dancing,” she said. “It’s one thing that really ties me to home. It helps me handle my homesickness.” 

To balance it all, she said it’s best to come to the understanding that you can’t control everything.  

“Understand that you can’t control it all,” she said. “But with all my stuff, I’ve learned how to manage bit-by-bit over the years from first going to regular high school, then to military high school, onto here. Having that stress inoculation helps. It really helps.”