For senior Justin Touve and junior Holly Carlton, committing to a college to do the thing they love is a dream come true.

Touve, who placed third in the 100-yard freestyle at the 2014 VHSL 5A state swimming championships, has committed to the Division I school, Fairfield University, in Connecticut.

“I really liked the area because other colleges that I visited were either in the middle of nowhere or in a city, which I didn’t really like. But this one is in a suburb, similar to this area,” said Touve.

Though Touve will represent the Stags in the freestyle and butterfly races, it was not just swimming that drew him to the school. Touve narrowed down his choices of college after he learned of Fairfield’s high ranking engineering program.

“I’m really looking forward to swimming in college, obviously, but I am also looking forward to learning what I am interested in, and I want to major in mechanical engineering,” he said.

Touve is not the only student who has decided on his future home. Junior Holly Carlton has verbally committed earlier this November to play volleyball at Division I University of North Carolina, Chapel-Hill. Carlton has already racked up a plethora of awards and achievements, winning Player of the Year on the 2014 All-Conference 14 volleyball team this season. However, she is looking forward to starting over as a player in college.

“I am excited to go in and fight for my spot on the team,” said Carlton.

Carlton, who measures in at 6’5, will use her height as well as her left-handedness to be a competitive setter at UNC. Though the school was not originally her first choice, visiting the campus changed her mind completely.

“I just fell in love with the school and really liked the campus and how the players interacted with each other and the coaches. They are also in the top ten in the country so it’s a competitive environment,” she said.

Committing to a college for a sport also brings great relief from an academic perspective. Touve shares in the sentiment, saying, “It takes a lot of stress out of the equation, if I just focus on passing now, then I’ll be good.”

However, Carlton is a junior, and she does not plan to let up on her academics. “UNC is really competitively academically, so [being committed] is not going to change anything except me working even harder in school. I still have to apply to the school next year, so I still have the same expectations, I can’t let my grades drop now,” said a motivated Carlton.