Bryan Sayers (front row, second from left).
Courtesy Photo
When Mount Gilead held its college signing day in May, three former Indian athletes officially announced they were signing to enlist in the Army.
Mason Barnum plans to be an interior electrician. He said that he was helped in making his decision by a family member.
“I’ve always been interested in the armed forces, but it was really my cousin,” he said. “He was an Army Ranger and we were really close, so he really helped motivate me and push me.”
And he found a lot of reasons to want to join the Army.
“Really the brotherhood and the commitment and everything in serving my country are the biggest ones for me,” he said.
Barnum added that he’ll have many good memories of Mount Gilead to take with him.
“Just the place that’s always helped build me up,” he said. “Whenever I’ve fallen, they’ve always been there to support everything, so there’s a lot of good memories here.”
Shelba Fisher, who is enlisting to be a combat medic, made her decision during her senior year.
“Not very long, really,” she said in responding to how long she had planned to enter the armed forces. “It didn’t really strike my interest until the beginning of my senior year when I looked into it. Then the moment I talked to a recruiter, I just kind of knew that’s what I wanted to do.”
One appealing nature to joining simply is the opportunity to potentially travel the world.
“The ability to get out of our small town and see different places in the world was definitely an eye-opener for me,” she said.
She added that she’ll miss the relationships that she developed while at Mount Gilead.
“Definitely the community I have behind me,” she said. “Through all the sports, I’ve had so many friendships and so many friend groups outside of those teams, too. It’s just been a great memory to have, all those people behind me.”
Bryan Sayers is looking to be a mechanic in the Army.
“About a year ago in the summertime, I kind of started to get a passion,” he said of enlisting. “My family has always been rich in the military and I wanted to keep the tradition going and that’s part of the reason why I joined.”
Like Fisher, a part of why he joined was the ability to travel.
“One of the goals I have is to get deployed and to just go travel the world,” he said. “Anywhere I’ll go, I’ll be happy.”
He added that one thing he’ll miss while gone is his family.
“I’m just going to be thinking about my family and my mom,” he said. “My mom always makes really good cookies and things. I’m going to miss just being home on the farm and working hard with my dad and my family.”
Rob Hamilton can be reached at 419-946-3010, ext. 1807. Connect with him on Twitter at @SportsMCS
