What is a great challenge you’ve faced?

“I’d say getting up and doing the whole college thing. I was never a person that applied myself too hard in high school. I kind of breezed by and got my A’s then I went to college and realized that it wasn’t going to quite work that way anymore. I thought ‘I’m going to have to up my game!’ This isn’t something that everyone considers a challenge or serious malady either, but I have ADHD. It makes it tough to sit down and study, or get stuff accomplished or focus in class. So trying to get over that, and getting up and ending up where I am today, is probably one of the toughest kicks in the butt I’ve ever had to give myself.”

What is an accomplishment you’re proud of?

“I would say that I’m a Computer Science major and I had never touched that side of computers in my life before. I got to work on the Tim Walz campaign, and just being the guy who walks in, and everyone turns to and says ‘Please help fix this,’ or ‘We need you to update this’ and having the skillset to be a line of support to a lot of people is really cool. I feel like now I really have something to offer. It’s a lot of little things I’m proud of.”

What is your advice to someone facing a challenge?

“Perspective is an important thing. Look at today, and think about what you’re struggling with today. Look at the course of your entire life; think of yourself in five or ten years. Think ‘Am I really going to be affected by the little stuff that happens today?’ Once you realize that, and realize that it all gets better and that you can really power through it if you need to, you can finally get on to tackling the big stuff. It’s all about prioritizing, and you can only do it as best you can.”

Beneath The Crown was created by Nick Theisen (‘15). It is inspired by Humans of New York (HONY) and aims to bring the community of Gustavus Adolphus College closer together by providing the perspectives of the many different people who live and work at the school.