Washington and Lee University
Hometown: Richfield, MN
Major: Business Administration
Extracurricular Involvement:
Off-Campus Experiences:
Favorite W&L Memory: Last year Tibetan Monks ventured to Lexington to share their multi-tonal songs and sand paintings. They had some free time and enjoyed playing basketball. Jamila Seaton asked Mason Herman and I if we wanted to play with them. What followed was two hours of pretty good basketball, and a lot of laughs!
Favorite W&L Event: Parents' Weekend
My time at W&L has provided me with extraordinary experiences and opportunities that I do not believe I could have anywhere else. Every day I am challenged to be better than I was yesterday, and I enjoy meeting that challenge. Whether I am in the classroom or on the basketball court, my professors, coaches, and peers encourage me to achieve just a little bit more. I am very appreciative of my opportunities, and I have been making the most of my options here.
As a college student I am trying to paint the picture of my future. To me it seems like W&L provides me with a few more colors on the palette and a few more tools to work with. As a junior captain on the basketball team, I was not sure what it meant to be a captain and what my role was supposed to be. I attended many of the meetings offered by the Leadership Development office, and I used what I learned to create W&L’s first Captains’ Council. I teamed up with the director of leadership development and director of athletics, and we created a group that will provide clinics to captains to help them understand their role and develop their leadership skills.
While at W&L I also had the chance to develop the campus's Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). This organization serves as a voice to the community and university on the behalf of the student athletes. It has been great to work with the advisors and other athletes in developing W&L’s first SAAC. I've since been selected to represent the Old Dominion Athletic Conference on the NCAA's national Division III SAAC. I'm one of twenty-four members of the national committee, which provides insight on the student-athlete experience and offers input on the rules, regulations and polices that affect student-athletes' lives on their respective campuses.
When I shook hands with NCAA president Myles Brand during the NCAA convention in Nashville, I asked myself, “how the heck did I get here?” I truly believe that W&L has shaped and honed my leadership skills, enabling me to do many things that I may not have otherwise done.
