Standing in the JROTC classroom, senior Talon Benton held a large cardboard check. This check represented his full ride to a college of his choice through the National Navy ROTC scholarship. He was honored with the scholarship on May 9.
The National Navy ROTC scholarship is a contract with the US Navy. Benton will attend Howard University and then serve for a minimum of five years in the Navy after college.
Benton originally found out he received the scholarship during Thanksgiving break through an email he got when he was at a basketball game.
“I checked my phone because I felt I got an email, and I called my mom,” Benton said. “I called Richard Beal, my best friend, and I called my dad, and then I started crying, because I mean, I fully received the scholarship.”
Benton will major in either marketing or public speaking at Howard. When visiting, Benton enjoyed how there were people with all different backgrounds and said he looks forward to sharing new experiences.
Three years ago, Benton’s older brother Lion Benton received a similar scholarship through the Army and went to Howard. Benton’s dad also went to Howard.
Howard, which was founded in 1867, is located in Washington, D.C. It is one of the most prestigious Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the country. Attending an HBCU was a draw for Benton.
“I went up there for a weekend because my brother also goes there, and it was the first time that my race didn’t get mentioned to me at all, which was special,” Benton said. “Because here, which is a primarily white campus, primarily white friends, the questions you get about being Black are people wanting to talk about being Black or how cool it is to be Black. It’s very constant. So it was nice to just go be me – uninterrupted, unapologetically – and get to live life like that.”
Kingwood Park is 8 percent African-American, which ranks it fifth in Humble ISD with the lowest percentage of Black students. Only Kingwood High School is lower with 5.4 percent.
Benton said being among such an underrepresented group in high school was challenging and part of what drew him to Howard for college.
“It is your job to be representative and be ‘one of the good ones,’ which sounds so horrible and so gross because all people are good people,” Benton said. “But just having to be a constant face and always feeling like you’re being watched more than other people is stressful at times.”
Benton hopes to go into sales or work to become president of the United States. He’s also looking forward to serving as a commissioned officer in the Navy, which is a leadership position where he will be part of management teams of the Navy and the Navy Reserve.
“As an officer, you know the why,” Benton said. “You get to go out there and you get to lead and you get to be the person who tells them why they’re going to, why they’re going to break that down, why they’re going to lead the operative, why are they going to do what they do. And so that’s what’s important to me, is being able to effectively be in charge.”
At the ceremony, Benton also nominated three teachers to get honored for their impact and leadership. Benton nominated AVID and AP World teacher Sydney Caldwell, STUCO teacher Natalie Johnson and football coach Clayton Maple.
“I hope he just keeps true to himself,” Caldwell said. “And keeps being someone who others can rely on. He continues to be a strong leader, and he continues to be kind and compassionate, because those are some of my favorite things about him.”
