Clemson bound

BENNETTSVILLE—When Josiah Benton-Lowe graduates from Marlboro County High School in two years, he won’t have to worry about where he’s going to college.

Benton-Lowe, currently a sophomore, will be a Clemson Tiger. He is a part of the Clemson Emerging Scholars Program. The program from the university high school students from South Carolina’s I-95 corridor learn what it takes to go to college.

The program is designed to increase the number of students who attend and graduate from college, this three-year program begins in the summer after the students complete ninth grade and continues until they graduate from high school and enter college.

MCHS is one of seven schools that participate in the program.

“In the summer we go to Clemson, we stay on campus and if we go all four years when we’re in high school, you get a scholarship to Clemson,” Benton-Lowe said. “Through the course of the school year, they will come and offer us trips and whatnot.”

Recently, Benton-Lowe went to the Men of Color National Summit, which was a two-day conference held at the university.

According to the school’s website, “the mission of the Clemson University Men of Color National Summit is to bridge the opportunity gap and illuminate pathways after High School for African American/Black and Hispanic/Latinx males and their allies. The summit brings together approximately 2,000 high school and college students, business professionals, educators, government officials and community leaders from around the country, emphasizing the importance of education, best practices and choices to increase high school and college graduation rates.”

Speakers at the event included Kenny Smith, NBA studio analyst, Former NBA basketball player, Entrepreneur and Author,

Calvin Mackie, Inventor, Author, Former Engineer, and Entrepreneur, and Fabio Tambosi, Transformational Leader,

Purposeful Storyteller and Educator.

“There were over 2,000 students there from across America, it was interesting and very fun,” Benton-Lowe said. He said that the conference taught leadership skills and provided an opportunity to meet people from different backgrounds.

Benton-Lowe said when he heads to Clemson in 2026, he plans to major in mechanical engineering. “The reason I chose Clemson is because Clemson has the best engineering program in South Carolina.” While he is a member of the MCHS football team, Benton-Lowe said he plans to focus on academics when heads off to college. (Sorry Dabo)

“I’m going to pursue my academics first and then pursue football maybe my second year,” he said.

Benton-Lowe said the Emerging Scholars program has taught him how to “be comfortable being uncomfortable.”

“A lot of times in life, you’ll be in an uncomfortable situation where you’re in front of a lot of people you don’t know. But then do you have the strength inside to preserve?”