As student athletes enter their final years of high school, it becomes very crucial that if they plan on going to college, they begin searching for exactly that. If they have excelled in their sport, they may have gotten scholarship offers from colleges which they will have to consider which one to accept and college to go to. Though many athletes will continue to play their respective sport in college, a large majority of others will decide to not continue after high school. That might be to focus on academics in college or they might even be planning on not  going to college, and possibly enlist in the military or go right into the workforce. One former BASH student, James Develin, continued playing football at Brown University as a defensive end, and later on joined the New England Patriots of the NFL as a fullback, and won multiple Super Bowls with them before retiring. 

Cole Kratz is a junior at BASH, who runs track and plays for the school’s baseball team. While he has been playing baseball for a number of years, he first participated in school track just last year when his parents had him join his twin brother, Cam Kratz, in the sport during the winter track season. He enjoyed it, as he raced pretty well in some of the sprinting events including the 4 by 200 relay. He has had success participating in both sports, though his main success comes in school, where Cole is a straight A student, and is at the top of the junior class alongside his brother. He especially thrives in math, and that leads into what this school athlete wants to do after he graduates high school. Cole wants to study math in college. He does not know what college he is going to go to yet, but it will most likely be either some sort of prestigious university or a Chrisitian college as he is a devoted Chrisitian. While Cole is very good at the sports he does play, and could probably play them in college, his greatest gift is his intelligence, which will help him excel in college.

Landon Small is also a junior in high school, and he plays for the basketball team. For the majority of middle and high school, he has been playing basketball, and has been pretty good at it especially considering the fact that he is six and a half feet tall, so that absolutely helps him see success in the sport. Just like the previously mentioned Cole Kratz, Landon does not plan on playing his sport after he graduates high school. He also does not plan on even going to college. He desires to enlist in the Marines, as he wants to follow in the footsteps of his father, Everest Small Jr, who was also in the Marines. Unfortunately for Landon, this dream might be pushed back a few years, as his mother wants him to go to college first, before enlisting. When it comes to playing basketball in college, Landon wouldn’t have a problem making a team thanks to his height and capabilities, but he wants to seize a different opportunity in the Marines.

There are numerous school athletes all with different aspirations about what they want their futures to look like. Whether it’s continuing to play their sport after high school, focusing on their major in college, or just heading straight into the military or workforce, it all comes down to everyone having a very important decision to make. Landon and Cole are just two of the many student athletes, and usually most of them won’t keep playing sports after high school, and only a select few will, and will succeed. The decision of choosing between all these options will be one of the most important decisions student athletes will have to make in their young lives.