Heartbreaking photos show a Haitian immigrant graduating from one of the US military's most prestigious academies

Staff Sgt. Vito T. Bryant/US Army

Cadet Alix Idrache sheds tears of joy during the commencement for the US Military Academy's Class of 2016 at Michie Stadium in West Point, May 21.

Second Lt. Alix Schoelcher Idrache never thought he would be one day standing tall in a commissioned officer's uniform.

"I am from Haiti and never did I imagine that such honor would be one day bestowed on me," he explained to USA Today.

As an immigrant from Port-au-Prince in 2009, he had overcome learning English, earned a Congressional appointment, and enlisted in the Maryland Army National Guard in order to get to this moment.

On May 21, 2016 Idrache graduated along with 953 cadets from West Point.

"My dad always said, 'education is the only gift I can always give you, because I don't have any anything material to give," he told the US Army.

Now, as a West Point graduate his next step is attending the Aviation Center for Excellence at Fort Rucker in Alabama.

Sgt. Ryan Noyes/US Army

Newly commissioned 2nd Lt. Alix Schoelcher Idrache, became the Maryland Army National Guard's first United States Military Academy, also known as West Point, graduate on May 21, 2016. Idrache, originally from Haiti, graduated at the top of his class in physics and will attend Army Aviation school at Fort Rucker, Alabama.