Arlington School & Family Magazine March/April 2018 | Page 6

Signing on Dotted Line
By Kenneth Perkins
Seguin High School senior Jorge
Barrera is headed to Henderson State
University to play quarterback for
the Reddies on a full-ride football
scholarship. That makes you think that
he was one of those kids who played
peewee football, junior high football
and all four years at Seguin.
Well, not quite.
Jorge played an assortment of
defensive positions at Seguin as a
curious freshman but decided to pursue other things.
Then, in his senior year, he decided to try football again.
This time he was inserted as a quarterback, initially
playing backup.
But he got a chance to start halfway through the season
and after six games was considered one of the most
effective quarterbacks in his district.
“I guess that was enough for Henderson,” Jorge said
during AISD’s districtwide National Signing Day event
in February.
Jorge joined about 80 other student-athletes who penned
letters of intent to attend schools large and small, both
four-year universities and two-year colleges.
Martin High School student-athlete Juma Otoviano is
headed to Rice University in Houston to play football.
Sam Houston High School soccer standout Jason
Ramirez will play for Hill College. Rachel Tippens
of Arlington High School will compete next year in
basketball for Pratt Community College.
There were also signees for Air Force Academy, Texas
Tech University, Kansas State University and the
University of Oklahoma.
“You’ve accomplished something really special and
unique,” Superintendent Dr. Marcelo Cavazos told the
students, parents and coaches during the event at the
Professional Development Center. “We want to celebrate
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you but also remind you to leave a
legacy and inspire others.”
The student-athletes got the
opportunity to hear from two high-
caliber athletes, track and field
Olympian Sanya Richards-Ross and
her now-retired pro football husband,
Aaron Ross. The pair engaged in a
Q&A of their own to answer many
questions tossed at one another, such
as coping with college life, coming to
a school (both attended the University
of Texas at Austin) where “everyone was the top dog at
their school,” and dealing with the mixture of sports and
academics.
“At some point you will reach a point where you have
to persevere through some kind of adversity,” said Ross,
who missed his first year due to a high school English
credit issue.
“But you can’t let it stop you,” Richards-Ross said. “If
this is something you want to do, hang in there and find a
way to get it done.”
It’s advice that certainly resonates with Jorge, who didn’t
even know if he would go to college in the first place.
Now he’s headed to Henderson State, a four-year liberal
arts university located in Arkadelphia, Arkansas.
“It’s a dream come true for me,” he said. “When I told
my family about it, they just jumped up and down.”