Inside the mind of Earlham athlete Will Katz
By Adam Tobin
After a brief hiatus, Mind of An Athlete (MoA) returns to the Word for its first installment in several months. This column is an in depth profile of an Earlham student-athlete and gives readers a more personal account of who the athlete is beyond the varsity sport they participate in at Earlham.
This week MoA profiles Will Katz, a senior English major from Seattle and a four-year member of the men’s soccer team.
Earlham Word: What are your hobbies and interests outside of going to classes every day and writing papers?
Will Katz: I enjoy playing soccer, playing the guitar and sailing.
EW: Let’s get these fun facts out of the way quickly. If you can, name your favorite movie, sports team, and favorite music you listen to.
WK: That’s tough, but for movie I would have to go with “Finding Nemo.” I don’t really follow professional sports at all, so I’ll just say the Seattle Supersonics (NBA). In terms of music, I listen to a lot of blues music. My favorites include Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Also, Tupac.
EW: If you could do Earlham over again, what would you do differently?
WK: Honestly, I would say not playing on a varsity sports team, if I were to have done something differently. That’s definitely the biggest component that I’ve thought about.
EW: Everyone likes to hear an embarrassing story, so do you have any tales to share?
WK: Actually, I immediately think of this incident my first year involving Jim Watts, the former women’s soccer coach. One of his players was celebrating her birthday and he surprised her by making her a cake with my face printed on the cake. He literally printed a headshot of me in a soccer uniform, put it on the cake, and then showed it to both soccer teams.
EW: While we’re talking about soccer, let’s talk about your career on the team. Name a best and worst moment during your four-year stint?
WK: Well definitely my worst moment on the soccer team happened my sophomore year when I broke my arm in a really, really stupid way. It caused me to miss the duration of the season, which was nearly all of our games, since we had only played one or two by that point. That might have been the worst moment of my life.
I’d have to say the best moment of my career on the team was when I was awarded Defensive MVP this past fall. Also, members of the team participated in a tournament at Anderson three weeks ago and we won it. That was the last time I got to play with my teammates.
EW: Any words of advice you’d give to your teammates after you’re gone?
WK: I’d only mention Big Run. It’s a phrase that Roy [men’s head soccer coach] uses a lot.
EW: Any accomplishments, accolades you’re proud of?
WK: Definitely the MVP award. There’s also the Wendall Stanley Scholar Athlete Award and the Ruby Davis Humanities Award, which I received at the awards convocation a couple weeks ago.
EW: Any plans after you graduate? What’s your outlook on jobs?
WK: This summer I’ll be teaching teenagers, struggling inner city kids in Seattle, who are making the transition into high school and prep them for the next level. It’s like a summer school and day camp where there are both classes and camp activities. This will actually be my fourth year working at this program. I am definitely postponing going to graduate school. For now I want to work in Seattle and live with friends.
EW: Do you have a dream job?
WK: Ideally I would love to teach English in either the Middle East or Paris. It would be a combination of having that teaching job, but also in a supportive community or city.
EW: Pretty cliché, but what will you miss about Earlham after you leave?
WK: I won’t know until I graduate, I guess. However, I suppose it will definitely be the people here and how cool they are. Not just people I am friends with, but also people who I don’t interact with all the time.
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