Game Day Answers
October 31, 2009
I taught Thomas Dolan when we read Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time in Alpha Seminar. Isiah Linnel was in my section of Alpha Seminar when we read Three Cups of Tea by David Oliver Relin and Greg Mortenson. Matt Ritter was a freshman in Alpha Seminar when we read Seth Kantner's Ordinary Wolves. T.J. Crippen read Tracy Kidder's Mountains Beyond Mountains for this year's Alpha Seminar common reading experence.
This past week, I sat down with these three former students and one current student to talk about being a member of the Carroll College football team. The interview with these student-athletes was published in today's Game Day insert in the Independent Record, our local newspaper. I asked the student athletes how they balance being a student-athlete, why they play football in college, what plans they have for their academic major and what they think they will remember most about being a member of the Carroll College football team.
The answers reflected the differences in personality and perspective of the four student-athletes. Dolan's responses were direct, serious and intense--not much different than how I suspect he is on the field. Linnell had a more relaxed, light-hearted approach and hopes to keep his options open on life, college and football. Ritter has the focus and intensity of Dolan combined with the easy smile and good-naturedness of Linnell. Crippen, a red-shirted freshman, favors the seriousness of Dolan with the big-picture perspective of Ritter.
I have a tremendous amount of respect for the commitment each of these men have made to play football for Carroll College. I appreciated the chance to interview them. Their answers taught me a lot about who they are as students, student-athletes and future professionals in their career field. JDH
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About Dr. Hardwick
Dr. Hardwick has been the Vice President for Student Life at Carroll since 2002. He brings to Carroll 20 years of experience working in higher education. Learn more about him!