Throughout the spring semester, we are honoring our senior student-athletes with a "Senior Salute" series. Today's featured senior is Matt Pardi, a biology major from Arlington, Virginia. Pardi is a member of the football team.
Q: Why did you choose to attend The College of Wooster?
A: There are a lot of opportunities here and great programs to choose from. I was not sure what I wanted to study as a first-year, but it was always appealing that I would be able to do research in whatever I found interesting. Wooster just felt like somewhere I could be successful.
Q: What does being a Fighting Scot student-athlete mean to you?
A: It is something to take pride in. We take athletics and academics seriously here. You can see that in the awards Wooster students have won in the last few years. As student-athletes, we are held to a high standard, and we take pride in meeting that standard.
Q: What are some of your favorite memories as a student at The College of Wooster?
A: Beating Wabash Collegefor the second time in a row in 2021 will always be a core Wooster memory for me. I broke the school record for single-game punting average and made D3football.com Team of the Week for the first time that week. It was a hard-fought win and one my teammates and I will always be proud of.
Q: What is the best part about being a student-athlete at The College of Wooster?
A: There is a strong community among student-athletes at The College of Wooster. Since Wooster is a small school, you become close with your class. By the time you are a senior, you are at least familiar with all the athletes in your cohort and you support each other.
Q: What else were you involved with on campus besides your sport?
A: I work in the athletic training room and equipment room in the Scot Center. I am an active member of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), which allows my classmates and I to have a voice in the athletic department. When I have free time, I try to get some exercise in with the soccer and volleyball clubs
Q: Which College of Wooster faculty or staff member has made the greatest impact on you and why?
A: Nate Huston, the head athletic trainer. I started working for him in the athletic training room my first semester at the College. Working there has been one of my favorite experiences. I am hoping to go into physical therapy, and I have learned so much in my four years working in the athletic training room. Nate is a great professional role model and an even funnier guy, but I'll never tell him that.
Q: What other people or resources impacted your Wooster experience in a positive way and how did these people and resources set you up to be successful at Wooster?
A: Coach Frank Colapretebecause a big part of his coaching philosophy is preaching personal responsibility and accountability. As players, he gives us the freedom to act on our own without looking over our shoulders. This taught me to take initiative and ask for help when I needed it. He is an honest guy who holds you accountable and takes accountability when he needs to. I have matured a lot as a player in his program, and I have a lot of respect for the example he sets.
Q: Tell us a bit about your Independent Study project?
A: I am analyzing the effects of a managed honeybee colony on the foraging behaviors of wild bees in an urban pollinator garden to understand the impacts of urban beekeeping on wild bee conservation. I spent about a month this summer in the College's pollinator garden on Pine Street observing and recording the foraging patterns of bees. The goal of my project is to see how beekeeping changes the behaviors of solitary wild bees in urban settings, which are often limited in floral resources.
Q: Tell us a bit about something cool you did as a student at The College of Wooster?
A: We did all sorts of cool stuff on field trips in the Natural History of Vertebrates class. We caught and identified fish in local streams, collected data on salamander populations, and went bird watching, among other things. It was one of my favorite experiences so far in college because we did a lot of hands-on learning in the field. I still keep a bird field guide in my car because of that class.
Q: Reflecting back on your time at Wooster, what is one piece of advice you would give your first-year (freshman) self?
A: Just ask. At a small school like Wooster, there are so many opportunities, but they will not find you if you are not looking. The more you put yourself out there, the likelier it is that you will find opportunities.
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