4 Buckeye Career Center students commit to armed services
Four Buckeye Career Center students were recently honored for their commitment to joining the U.S. Military. Seniors Ayden Freshour, Kristian Mehok, Makaylyn Lendon and Dylan Link attended the sixth annual All-Ohio U.S. Armed Forces Career Commitment Celebration on March 7 in Columbus.
The four had previously enlisted in the military, with Freshour and Mehok joining the U.S. Marine Corps, Lendon joining the U.S. Army Reserves, and Link enlisting in the U.S. Army National Guard.
The event is organized yearly by the Ohio Department of Education and featured Ohio Second Lady Tina Husted as guest speaker, Col. Charles Barkhurst, Maj. Gen. John Harris and Maj. Gen. Deborah Ashenhurst. Juniors and seniors from across the state attended, with each signing a commitment letter during the ceremony.
Both Link and Lendon decided to enlist in the military because of strong family roots in the service and to pay for college.
“My father was in the Army and encouraged me to go for the Army National Guard,” said Link, who plans to attend basic training this summer before entering job school for IT and cybersecurity. He eventually hopes to obtain a business degree from Ohio University and attend Washington State University for computational neuroscience.
Lendon also has higher education aspirations. “I’ve always had family influences who were in the military, and this is a way to attend college for free. I hope to be a behavioral health specialist in the reserves and obtain my associate degree before attending Akron University and participating in the ROTC program,” she said.
Lendon wants to become a respiratory therapist. She also will attend basic training this summer.
At BCC Link is enrolled in graphic arts and attends from Garaway while Lendon studies exercise science and is from Indian Valley.
Freshour is an auto technology student, and Mehok studies energy operations. Both attend BCC from Dover. HVAC-R senior Kaleb Drda of New Philadelphia also enlisted in the U.S. Army but was unable to attend the commitment ceremony.
— From the Millersburg Bargain Hunter
