It was 3:09 p.m. on April 24, 2017. Steve Woods was working in his financial advising office when he realized he had missed a phone call. When he finally got through, he heard: “You’ve done a great job, and we’d like to bring you on with the NFL.” “After I had accepted this wasn’t a dream, the fear of failing came on. When we walk out on the field, everybody in the stands and on the sidelines expect us to be perfect.” Steve says his first year with the National Football League was pretty similar to his time at Wabash. No, at Wabash he didn’t face the hatred of thousands of people, but he did learn time management, which has helped him balance the NFL, his full-time job, and, most importantly, his family. Wabash was also a challenge that kept him on his toes the entire time – exactly how he feels as an umpire behind the offensive line. “You’ve really got to maintain a high level of concentration during these five to six second intervals. That doesn’t sound that difficult, but by the end of 200 plays, I’m mentally exhausted. But then during timeouts, that’s when I found myself looking around and thinking, ‘I can’t believe I’m here.’”

That’s a Wabash man for you. Seriously.

Immanuel Mitchell-Sodipe believes he can change the world someday, and he wants to start in his hometown. He grew up in a housing project near the northside of Chicago, which was set to be torn down in 2006. “That was a policy decision,” he says. “It was a decision to displace thousands of African-American Chicagoans, and it made me realize that policy is not just numbers and data. It’s real families and real lives.” Though it took him until his junior year to really find himself on campus, Mitchell-Sodipe embraced the global experiences early on. He traveled to South Africa on an immersion trip, where he learned the power of the people in a community. He studied abroad in Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua, where he learned to act locally and think globally, while also becoming fluent in Spanish. Now he wants to go back to Chicago, where he has already begun working with political and labor organizations, and change political life in that city. “A lot of the struggles I saw when I was abroad are similar to the struggles we have back home. And the way we’re going to really affect change isn’t always protesting. I think it’s primarily about changing policies.”

That’s a Wabash man for you. Seriously.

Inside a box was an iPad containing 700 pages of documents and augmented reality about the city of Indianapolis – the city’s bid for the 2021 NBA All-Star game. Other cities shipped their boxes. Indianapolis had Pacers president Larry Bird drive an IndyCar down Fifth Avenue in New York and deliver theirs directly to the league offices. Indianapolis won the bid because Indiana Sports Corp President Ryan Vaughn and his staff know their city’s brand: sports. “We want to project that we are a vibrant city, an active city, an engaged city. Nashville may use music; we use sports.” Indiana Sports Corp’s mission is to garner economic impact, civic engagement, and opportunities for the city’s youth by hosting sporting events. Beyond handling the bids, they negotiate hotel contracts, secure volunteers for the events, and make sure there are plenty of additional events for fans to enjoy when they’re not inside the arenas. “Graduates used to move to wherever they found a job. Now people are moving to where they want to live. So we have to make sure Indy is that place.” It’s happening fast. Right after Indianapolis hosts the All-Star game, it will host the men’s Final Four, which it’s done more than any other city. Less than a year later, Indy will also host the College Football Playoff national championship game for the first time. That sounds pretty good for the brand.

That’s a Wabash man for you. Seriously.

When Artie Equihua interviewed for a summer internship with the Montgomery County Health Department, they told him he couldn’t be afraid to get sweaty and dirty and to expected the unexpected. In just a short time, Artie was working with septic tanks and helping with home and restaurant inspections. He even helped the Indiana State Police bust a meth house. On the side, he was studying mosquitos. “I was told that, by the end of my internship, I’d be so comfortable with mosquitos I’d be able to identify them when they land on me. And it’s true. I can.” Artie’s work included classifying the types of mosquitos common in Montgomery County, figuring out the diseases they carry, and educating the public on where mosquitos are most likely to be and how to prevent breeding. Though Artie says his work with mosquitos was probably the most fascinating for him, the home inspections he went on were the hardest. “I’m not used to seeing people live in unhealthy conditions. It’s not always their fault – some people just aren’t as educated in basic health techniques – but it’s really sad to see that divide. Once I saw that, though, I realized it was my job to level out the playing field and provide people some of the education they’re lacking.”

That’s a Wabash man for you. Seriously.

Like many college students, Joey Lenkey headed south for Spring Break. But instead of hanging out at a beach, he was in Ecuador shadowing Director of Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery at Penn State Hershey Medical Center Dr. John Myers ’74. Myers, who is also a professor of surgery and pediatrics, leads a team of healthcare professionals to train Ecuadorian surgeons and perform life-saving procedures at a children’s hospital. Joey has shadowed doctors in hospitals in Indiana before this trip. He has seen state-of-the art medical technology in action. So when he arrived at the hospital where he’d be working and living for the week, to say he was surprised would be an understatement. “Oftentimes, we paint a picture of South America as having only developing countries with the U.S. being far more advanced. While there are poverty-stricken areas in Ecuador, there are also areas that looked like Indianapolis. In fact, the hospital we were in was nicer and more advanced than some of the hospitals I have worked in before.” Joey was able to be in the operating room with surgeons, with some of the procedures lasting up to 12 hours, plus follow-up time spent with patients in ICU. “It was exciting to get up each morning for another long day if it meant seeing another child leave the hospital happier and healthier than when they entered.”

That’s a Wabash man for you. Seriously.

Nathaniel Mary Quinn grew up in the projects of Chicago and lost his entire family when he was only 15 years old, but one thing he did not lose was the creativity his parents had fostered in him at a young age. However, being an artist never seemed practical – or even possible – until he came to Wabash. His professors helped him find his voice from his experiences and inspired him with their own work. Now Quinn is an internationally known artist, with work displayed in some of the most prestigious galleries and private collections in the world. His creativity plays a role in his art, but his work ethic is the foundation of his success. “People think as an artist, I’m cloaked with inspiration,” Quinn said. “It’s not like that. It’s laborious work, and you never, ever should feel like you have made it. I’m not driven by money; I’m driven by me. I want my name to last permanently; I want to be remembered.”

That’s a Wabash man for you. Seriously.

Jordan Hansen’s dad died of pancreatic cancer four months after his diagnosis. Hansen was two, leaving just him and his mom. “I will always look up to her and respect her for what she did for me, what she’s given for me, and the life she’s provided me.” When his mom needed help, she often called on Hansen’s aunt and grandma. Because of the three of them, Jordan developed a wide-range of emotions and now finds it pretty easy to be empathetic. How does that fit in at an all-male institution like Wabash? “At Wabash, a lot of guys are really passionate about a lot of things. I think it was a little easier knowing I could still be emotional and be passionate and that would be accepted.” In fact, Hansen believes he understands the concept of the Gentleman’s Rule, the one rule that all Wabash College students must abide by, a little better because of how he was raised. “With the Gentlemen’s Rule, the decisions you make reflect not only on yourself but also the College and your peers. The empathy that comes with the Rule, that comes with listening before making decisions, is very similar in the way I had to think about where my mom was coming from when I was a kid and the circumstances we were in.”

That’s a Wabash man for you. Seriously.

As a Crawfordsville native, Hank Horner takes the relationship between Wabash and the surrounding community personally. Coming in as a freshman, it was his goal to make that connection stronger and inspire his Wabash brothers to do the same. “‘Impact’ is a word a lot of people my age throw around, but you don’t have to wait to get your degree to make an impact. Instead of trying to change the entire world, you can start by helping the person right in front of you.\" One of Horner’s biggest volunteer efforts came in a local gym coaching fifth grade basketball for three years. He has also fundraised for hurricane relief, organized multiple student days of service for Crawfordsville, and has been an active volunteer with the Boys & Girls Club, the Animal Welfare League, and the American Cancer Society. “I think people who have the means to help, should,” he said. “I don’t think life should be lived like a hermit. I want to go out and talk to people, get my hands dirty. At the end of the day, the more successful Crawfordsville is, the more successful Wabash is.”

That’s a Wabash man for you. Seriously.

Garrard McClendon’s parents were brutally murdered in 2009. Garrard’s prominence as an Emmy-award winning TV host in Chicago made his tragedy front page news for weeks. Many stories focused on the unexpected decision Garrard made on the way to his parents’ home – he chose to forgive. “Did I want them in prison? Of course! Forgiveness has nothing to do with punishment. People get that twisted. Forgiveness is for yourelf. If I don’t forgive, I can’t wake up tomorrow morning and do what I need to do. That’s what it’s about.” Garrard is finishing Forgiving Cain, a documentary about gun violence and the power of forgiveness featureing interviews with 22 families who also lost loved ones to murder. “It still hurts, but every interview helped me realize I’m not the only one in this.” Garrard hopes that Forgiving Cain will be a wake up call – a call for forgiveness – and will heighten the awareness of the accessibility of guns “These are stories that have to be told. They will help people deal with grief. But the most important goal is to show how precious life is. To ask the question: What is a human life worth? Do we value human life?”

That’s a Wabash man for you. Seriously.

Riley Lefever is a four-time national wrestling champion. He was named the Most Dominant Wrestler by the National Wrestling Coaches Association in 2016 and 2017, and, as his teammates can attest, wrestling Riley is simply about survival. Some say he’s the greatest athlete in Wabash history; he might also be one of the most unique. Riley came to Wabash wanting to be a math major, but then he took English 101. “Coming to Wabash, I never would’ve guessed people would be writing articles about me titled ‘The Poet Who Plays With His Prey’ or that I’d be known as the ‘wrestler who dabbles in poetry.’ As a person whose sole identity was ‘wrestler,’ I have grown into and gotten involved with things I never would have imagined.” His senior year, Riley served as the head resident assistant on campus with the hopes of changing the stereotype that all wrestlers are hard-nosed and unapproachable. He was known for his thoughtfulness and humility, and rarely did anyone on campus see Riley without a smile on his face. “If something isn’t fun, I question why I’m doing it, so finding or providing the fun in things is a necessity in my life.”

That’s a Wabash man for you. Seriously.

Going to college had never crossed Delon Pettiford’s mind until his sophomore year of high school – and that was only after the realization he might be good enough to play college football. Until then, school had always taken a backseat to sports and his social life. “I ended up getting good enough grades to get into Wabash, but I could’ve done a lot better.” One of the reasons Delon chose Wabash was for its location. It was far enough from his Indianapolis home that he thought he could be his own person here. Yet it was close enough to continue his role as the father figure his younger brothers needed after their parents’ divorce. When Delon wasn’t at home or at one of their sporting events, his brothers would come to campus to hang out with him and his friends and teammates. Delon took pride mentoring his younger brothers – and even their friends. For some of them, he was the only person they knew who had made it into college and succeeded both athletically and academically. “I’m the first person in my family to go to college, and then to make it to Wabash was pretty cool. I did this for myself, but I also set the bar for them by showing them you can go to the next level of your education and graduate. I think they’ll do a lot more than I’ve done. I’ve just shown them the path to take.”

That’s a Wabash man for you. Seriously.

CJ Ramsey is exactly where he wants to be on the sideline of a football field. He spent his childhood watching his father coach and dreaming of the day he could follow in his footsteps. His first coaching job came when he was a high school freshman – he has been coaching his peers ever since. After years of learning from and listening to his father, he knew what the players should be doing and he knew how to articulate it. Now at Wabash, Ramsey coaches players he lives with, eats with, and has classes with. Some of them are older than he is. However, Ramsey believes this experience has made him a better coach. “I realized I can’t get anywhere if you don’t have good relationships with the players,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s less about coaching and more about building and maintaining positive relationships. It’s not letting football overtake the fact that we’re people.”

That’s a Wabash man for you. Seriously.

A terrifying car accident that fractured his skull in five places, caused his brain to hemmorhage, and left lasting brain damage changed Jason Bridges’ life forever. He had lost a lot of his IQ. But he found EQ, or “emotional intelligence,” a set of skills that includes control of one’s impulses, self-motivation, empathy, and social competence in interpersonal relationships. “These are the things that really matter in life. Nobody ever says, ‘Man, if only you had a higher GPA then we could be friends.’ You want trust, honesty, gratitude.” He continued to develop this practice throughout his 20s, and later, when he and his wife decided to open Nantucket Bike Tours, he found a place to teach it. What started as a summer internship giving tours of Nantucket turned into a place where Wabash students were developing interpersonal and leadership skills. The business’s mantra of “Be Interested, Not Interesting” (BINI) has given Nantucket Bike Tours a chance to leave a lasting impression on its interns as well as its customers. “We teach the value of taking the focus away from yourself and toward others. It’s about asking questions, but it has to be genuine and sincere. All of this builds up to becoming a community leader.”

That’s a Wabash man for you. Seriously.

It’s not every day a college student is handed a multi-million dollar problem and is asked to fix it, but that’s exactly what Jayvis Gonsalves was able to do during his internship with Microsoft. The financial economics major from India applied for a position as a software developer because of his strong technological background. However, executives took notice of his critical thinking skills and offered him the coveted position of program manager. He was put in charge of a feature within Windows 10 that was facing falling revenues. His task was to analyze the problems, fix them, and bring revenue back up. The project ended up being so successful that it was launched as a platform of its own, and Jayvis was asked to come back after he graduates. However, his biggest takeaway from the internship was the importance of soft skills. “Technical skills are something you learn on the job, but you have to know how to interact and what to do with the advice given to you. That is something I learned at Wabash.”

That’s a Wabash man for you. Seriously.

Marlon Lewis would go to the Museum of Science and Industry with his family in his hometown of Chicago at least 10 times a year, and each visit was just as amazing as the last. So when he needed to find an internship after his freshman year, Lewis didn’t think twice about where he wanted to apply. With the help of Wabash staff and administrators, Lewis landed a dream internship at the famous Chicago museum that combined his love of science and his skills in rhetoric and art. Throughout the 10 weeks he was there, Lewis was able to help redesign current exhibits, conduct research for upcoming exhibits, interact with guests, and work in the museum’s fabrication lab. “I want to take my love for science and my skills in art and rhetoric to communicate with people, advocate for people, and bring light to issues that are often overlooked,” he said. “I want my pictures to speak 1,000 words and my words to paint 1,000 pictures. That’s kind of the saying I have for myself.”

That’s a Wabash man for you. Seriously.

A spring break shadowing a social worker empowered Kevin Griffen to address community problems at the policy level on Capitol Hill. As part of Wabash’s Malcolm X Institute for Black Studies, Kevin Griffen leads the effort to find opportunities for him and his peers to grow as community leaders and share their experiences as African American students with their brothers on campus. He’s traveled to D.C. to walk in the Million Man March and for the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, where he saw President Obama speak. Kevin leads on-campus events, like “I Too Am Wabash,” that start dialogues on culture and difference. “We are a brotherhood that sticks together. The Malcolm X Institute helps the men of color on campus lead our whole community to think about how we make lives better for communities of color nationwide.”

That’s a Wabash man for you. Seriously.

Brock Heffron of Chandler, Arizona, had won four BMX world championships by the time he was 13 and earned the title of Sports Illustrated’s first ever Athlete of the Year. “It was quite the experience,” the Rhetoric major said. “My buddies will joke with me and tell me, ‘Brock, you peaked when you were 10.’ But I don’t like to think of it that way. I want to keep building on it.” Brock stopped racing when he realized that his talents on the track wouldn’t help get him into college. So he switched to focus on baseball and football, which eventually led to being recruited by Wabash College. When he arrived on campus, Brock decided he wanted to be known for his character and not his championships, which means most of his peers and professors have no clue about his pre-teen accomplishments. To his football coach, Brock is a player who brings a great amount of intelligence, toughness, and work ethic to his team. To his favorite professor, Brock is a student who really knows how to keep a classroom discussion going. Brock knows that every success is earned and not given. His hard work got him to four world championships, now to Wabash College, and hopefully to the FBI after graduation. “I want to set the bar with my actions now, not what I did previously. I like that new slate. I’m really going to show you what I can do.”

That’s a Wabash man for you. Seriously.

Ian Finley isn’t the kind of man who waits for things to come to him. Just a sophomore, his academic resume reads like that of a grad student. The Spanish and economics double-major recently visited Argentina as part of his student-driven independent study course. With the guidance of history professor Dr. Richard Warner, Ian launched a research project on the Argentine Dirty War. “I got to interview Taty Almeida, one of the members of the Mothers of the Plaza De Mayo, a prominent activist group that raised awareness of human rights violations during the war. Being able to sit down with this real-life person to hear about the effects of the war was amazing.” Ian’s research culminated in a 40-page paper detailing the cultural effects and public memory of the Argentine Dirty War. Although he’s accomplished so much, Ian is just getting started at Wabash. “I’m looking forward to continuing my work on campus and to more trips abroad. I will be traveling to Kenya, and I’m interested in a study abroad trip to Spain.”

That’s a Wabash man for you. Seriously.

Parker Sawyers is a renaissance man who took an unconventional path to follow his dream of acting. He modeled, worked on a home renovation, managed a restaurant, and worked in politics. Acting was a dream that he thought a lot about but never pursued. “I’ve wanted to act since I was eight years old. I just never did it.” Fate stepped in when Parker had a chance meeting with an actor who helped him break into the business. “It’s still surreal. I’ve only been acting for five years. But I draw on the things I’ve studied for my acting.” In a short time, Parker landed a number of roles; most notable is his starring performance as Barack Obama in the film Southside With You, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The film follows the first date of the President and First Lady in their native Chicago. “It took a lot of studying because he’s known by the whole world. But it’s a great script; such an interesting way to tell a story about a public figure.”

That’s a Wabash man for you. Seriously.

Jared Cottingham knows exactly what he wants. “I’ve known for a long time that I want to practice medicine. I just needed to pinpoint what my specialty should be.” Jared found his match after reading a New York Times article about the ear, nose, and throat doctors who serve on the Met Opera’s medical staff. “I want to be an otolaryngologist, a throat surgeon that specializes in vocalists and vocal cords.” Jared’s been singing most of his life. He’s an opera singer and has starred in several musical theater performances on campus. He hopes that his experience as a vocalist will make him an even better doctor. “I’ll connect with my patients because I’ll be able to inform them in terms of their health and their career.” After graduation, Jared plans to head to medical school, but he says he’ll never lose his passion for singing. “I want to give lessons while I’m in school to keep my passion alive. I don’t think I’ll ever stop performing.”

That’s a Wabash man for you. Seriously.

Carmel, Indiana, isn’t the place you’d expect to find an award-winning costume designer. But that’s exactly where Tom Broecker got his start. The theater major graduated from Wabash in ’84, went on to earn his master’s degree from the Yale School of Drama, and has become a mainstay of the costume design industry. Tom has been designing costumes for Saturday Night Live since 1994. “It’s an amazing job. You don’t get a lot of design opportunities in television that last 20 years.” In addition to his day job at SNL, Tom has dressed the cast of 30 Rock, the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright as Frank and Claire Underwood in the acclaimed Netflix series House of Cards. “Working with Robin was amazing. She’s such an interesting character, and no one on TV looks like her.” In 2014, Tom earned an Emmy for his work on SNL and a Costume Designer’s Guild Award for his work on House of Cards. He’s been nominated for six Emmys and four Costume Designer’s Guild Awards in his career.

That’s a Wabash man for you. Seriously.

When a global health course took Bilal Jawed to Paloma Alto, Peru, he knew he’d found his purpose. When a Global Health course took Bilal Jawed to Paloma Alto, Peru, he knew he’d found his purpose. “I went in with a superficial idea of what a doctor is, but as I worked firsthand with patients and doctors in Peru I got a deeper understanding of why I want to do this work.” And once Bilal found his path, he took it at a run. He next traveled to Uganda as an intern with a clinical trial for a drug used to fight pneumococcal meningitis in HIV/AIDS patients. The conditions and limitations made Bilal begin to wonder if he could ever really make a difference in this world. Instead of letting his frustrations get the best of him, he decided to do the best he could where he was, which led to the creation of the Mental Health Concerns Committee on campus. “We go after problems not because they are easy but because they are hard. What makes Wabash great is not convincing ourselves that we are perfect but the self-awareness that we are not – the understanding that there is progress to be made.”

That’s a Wabash man for you. Seriously.

Cornell Professor, start-up founder, and chemistry whiz Geoff Coates is working toward solving a huge problem: plastics. While they are cheap and convenient for all kinds of things, they have a devastatingly negative impact on our environment. Geoff wants to change that. “We need to develop synthetic methods that limit energy and raw material consumption, and the new plastic must be better – and cheaper – than what’s out there now.” And that’s exactly what his team at Cornell and his start-up Novomer have done. They’ve engineered a way to trap the carbon dioxide that escapes into the atmosphere to create polyethylene and polypropylene that are then used to make plastics. “It’s 44 percent carbon dioxide by weight, and the cheapest polymer on the planet.” The process earned Novomer the ICIS Innovation Award for Best Environmental Benefit and won backing from the U.S. Department of Energy and partners Albermarle and Eastman Kodak for larger scale production.

That’s a Wabash man for you. Seriously.

A summer internship working with Wabash alum Jason Bridges at his company, Nantucket Bike Tours, was a perspective-shifting experience for Cole Crouch. Cole Crouch was a student who was often a little too driven, focused on a career in law, and barely cracked a smile. But everything changed when he accepted an internship with Wabash alum Jason Bridges ’98 at his company Nantucket Bike Tours, where emotional intelligence is the focus and learning the business is a byproduct. “I learned to be interested in other people,” Cole says, “to step outside myself, and try to build community.” Upon returning to campus, people began to see a change in the rhetoric major. They wondered if it was genuine because he seemed a little “too happy.” He was still extremely focused – conducting research with professors, studying abroad in Greece and becoming the editor-in-chief of the Wabash student paper, The Bachelor. But he was smiling. “My entire life is night-and-day different. I’m not only more thankful for everyone around me in a more genuine way, but I can also physically get animated around people in a way I didn’t before. I’m a hugger now.” Cole returned to the island after graduation to help manage the business and mentor interns who have followed in his footsteps.

That’s a Wabash man for you. Seriously.

Wabash took Patrick Bryant places he never imagined he’d go. As a freshman, he traveled to Manchester, England, to study industrial literature. And in the fall of 2013, before the trade and travel embargo had been lifted, he traveled to Cuba for a politics and culture course. “Before going to Wabash I had never even been out of the U.S. You can read as many books as you want, but actually being there, you live it. It brought the learning up close and personal.” Patrick’s hands-on attitude didn’t stop at learning abroad. He was involved on campus as Student Body President, was editor of the Wabash student paper, The Bachelor, and interned at Eli Lily as part of his economics major. That internship led to a full-time job offer, extended the day Patrick started his senior year. He’s been working at Eli Lily as a financial analyst since he graduated. “Wabash was a fantastic four years that prepared me for what I am doing now. I draw on my experiences there – in student government and from classes – to do my job here all the time.”

That’s a Wabash man for you. Seriously.

At Wabash, Peter Prengaman discovered his passion for language and literature. The one-time math major had a series of aha moments that led him to change to a double-major in English and Spanish. Since then, Peter’s pursuit of both passions has made him insatiable for more. He’s worked all over the world as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, Morocco Today, The Associated Press, and more. He’s earned a certificate from UCLA and a graduate degree from Stanford. And he’s learned to speak multiple languages, including Portuguese, French, and Arabic. Most recently, Peter was named the Brazil News Director for AP. In this role, he leads a multimedia effort to tell the stories of the largest nation in South America, including covering the 2016 summer Olympic Games in Rio De Janiero with the whole world watching.

That’s a Wabash man for you. Seriously.

Aaron Becker knows better than anyone that life is short. A healthcare internship with Child Family Health International on a remote island in the Philippines taught him that lesson. Many patients there lacked access and financial means to get the healthcare they really needed. “Seeing patients suffer was difficult, but the responsibility and dedication the doctors had for them inspired me to do the same.” Since then, Aaron has decided to dedicate his life to helping his community lead healthy and happy lives. At Wabash, Aaron serves as a leader in the Wabash Christian Men Association while he works to finish his chemistry major and applies to medical schools. “I’ve been able to grow and encourage other guys to grow in their faith as well. We do a few conference and camping events a year. These will be some of my most memorable times.” His advice for incoming freshmen? “Make the most of your time at Wabash. Don’t take your four years for granted.”

That’s a Wabash man for you. Seriously.