For any child who grows up loving football, an offer to play on a major college team would be a dream come true.

Senior lineman Chandon Herring has always dreamt of playing on Saturdays on the big stage, and now that his high school career is over, his dream is on the verge of becoming a reality. Herring signed with Brigham Young University to play football for the Cougars, but his college career will not begin this fall.

Herring is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and will serve a mission in Washington D.C.

Missionaries volunteer two years of their life to serve a mission and tell people about their church. Up until a October 2012 announcement, boys typically served missions from ages 21 to 23.  However, the age minimum was recently lowered to 18 for boys and 19 for girls allowing boys to leave the summer after their senior year, choosing to defer college acceptance, sports, and scholarships to fulfill both.

It has been a long-term goal of Herring to serve a mission. “I have been wanting to go on a mission since I knew what a mission was (about age 4),” he explains.

His mother, Kim, agrees.

“He has always loved his Savior,” she explains, continuing,” [Chandon] has had a testimony …from a very young age.” A testimony is a spiritual witness that has lead him to believe what he does and it has largely influenced him to choose to serve a mission.

BYU is not the only college allowing students to defer entrance and scholarships in order to serve a mission, because many colleges nationwide make similar exceptions, based on their situations.

“Typically if you go on a mission, most universities…will hold their scholarship for you,” principal Dan Serrano explained. Many other seniors are planning to take this route, and they are receiving college acceptance and mission calls simultaneously,for example, Aaron Ratliff.

Kim explains that serving a mission “will be hard, but that will only strengthen and stretch him into the man he is meant to be.”

Herring has no second thoughts about choosing to postpone his full ride scholarship in order to serve a mission.

“[A mission] has always been something that’s been more important to me and more influential on my life than football will ever be,” he said.

Herring’s parents are in full support of his decision to defer his scholarship and believe that it will benefit his education. His mother explained, “We truly believe that after serving his mission he will return more focused on his future and have a greater desire to succeed in life.”