Two Washington High School graduates — Daniel May and Jeff Bennett — have been accepted to the Citadel, the military college of South Carolina.

Both students applied to the school and received word they were accepted at the beginning of the school year, but each of them are going for two very different reasons.

Bennett said he wants a career in the army and not just any career. He wants to be an infantry officer in the U.S. Army and felt like the Citadel would prepare him for that.

“Freedom isn’t free,” Bennett said. “Freedom requires sacrifices for others and I know others have made sacrifices for the freedom I grew up with in America. I might as well sacrifice a little to give freedom to others.”

Bennett will be attending the school on a four-year Army ROTC scholarship and plans to study Political Science with a focus on International Military Affairs. The ROTC scholarship means he’ll be commissioned as an Army officer upon graduation,

which requires him to serve four years active duty and four years reserve duty. He’ll have the option to recommission once the requirement is met, but Bennett said he’s in it for the long haul.

“I’m very proud of him, but also anxious of his career choice,” said Elizabeth Bennett, Jeff Bennett’s mother. “I think the Citadel is a great choice. I know when he comes out he will be very disciplined. I think that will be a wonderful experience for him — serving in the military. … As a mother, I am worried about him serving in the Army.”

Bennett is already enlisted in the South Carolina State Guard, in which he was selected from a pool of recruits after a six-month training program and a weekend-long assessment. Out of 18 candidates, Bennett was one of five selected.

It was May’s grandfather who got May interested in the school. A visit to the campus and seeing the Charleston area were further incentives to apply. But for May, the personal discipline he’ll walk away with at the end of four years is the main draw. His love of mechanics and learning how things work has him leaning toward studying mechanical engineering, he said.

May is currently getting a preview of Citadel life, enrolled at the Citadel Success Institute, an one-month orientation program that includes a psychology course and physical training, which he describes as “a little bit of everything:” pushups, sit ups, running, yoga, weightlifting and intramural sports.

“I like that I’m going ahead and getting my body and mind ready for the physical training in the fall,” May said.