Benjamin Franklin once said, “Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.” As a young athlete progresses through their athletic high school career, some think about what lies ahead. On February 4, 2015, seniors JoJo Taylor, Richard Hanson and Tyler Bembry all signed scholarships to go to their respective colleges.

Richard Hanson is on the football team as a cornerback during the fall and is a guard on the basketball team during the winter. Hanson is very active on both teams but before he signed to a college, he needed to make a decision on what sport to play.

“I decided to play football at West Point-US Military Academy. Playing at West Point gives me a chance to play Division One football,” Hanson said.“That has been my dream since I started playing football at the age of five.”

Hanson’s teammate Tyler Bembry also played on the football team. Bembry played for five years. Bembry’s positions on the field are left tackle and defensive tackle.

“I decided to play football at Chowan University based on how much money and benefits they offered me,” Bembry said.

JoJo Taylor is like Hanson, as she plays two sports also. Taylor plays basketball during the winter and soccer during the spring.

“I decided to sign to Winthrop University because when I visited Winthrop I had this gut feeling about the campus,” Taylor said. “After I took the tour of the campus, I fell in love with it.”

During your high school athletic career, your peers that you know as your teammates could possibly be your opponents in the near future when signing to a college or university. Senior Michael Benjamin was ecstatic for a lot of reasons when he found out the news about Hanson’s signing.

“Richard and I are best friends and to see him succeed is heart warming,” Benjamin said.“Richard and I are very competitive, and to know that we both will compete in the same sport will just drive our competition to another level.”

As an athlete, signing to a college is a big commitment, and athletic director Bill Russell tries to stay supportive during the recruitment process.

“Well, it is great to see the years of hard work and dedication pay off,” said Russell.“All the effort put in by both the players and coaches is immeasurable. It will be great for them, our coaches and our school.”