Ethan Pine ’22 comes from Greenwood Community High School in Greenwood, Indiana. Pine is majoring in rhetoric.
Clarke Criddell ’22 comes from Thornton Fractional Township in Calumet City, Illinois. Criddell is majoring in rhetoric.
Gabe Cowley’24 comes from Trinity Academy in Portland, Oregon. Cowley is majoring in mathematics and physics.
Q: What is your favorite class?
Pine: Astronomy
Criddell: Classical rhetoric
Cowley: Advanced Greek Poetry Translation with Professor Gorey. Superb poetry and a wit rivaled by only Ovid!
Q: In your time at Wabash, what is the biggest obstacle you have had to overcome?
Pine: Wabash itself is challenging and I was not making the grades I knew I wanted and was capable of. But I worked with professors and group study sessions to improve and was able to realize the quality and depth of education here.
Criddell: Time-management was a hard adjustment coming into Wabash, but it was a skill that I vastly improved with my time here.
Cowley: Finding my "crowd" at Wabash made up of students with a similar worldview to that of my own. They are here but took a while to find. It has also been difficult finding peers of a similar background to that of my own (third-culture kid), but again, I have found some few and far between. Adjusting anywhere really does take time, no matter how good some place is, so just taking the time to get more comfortable here is a long ongoing process.
Q: How old were you when you started running cross country? And what advice would you give your younger self?
Pine: I started when I was 11. To have fun, but really do the little things like stretching, not skipping the weight room, and drinking adequate water. Those things will take you to the next level.
Criddell: I started running when I was 14. The off-season and the runners around you are the two greatest things that you could ask for.
Cowley: 15 years old, when I helped start my school's cross-country team in 10th grade. Set specific times of the day for specific activities. Homework time for homework, relaxation time for relaxation, and so on. Also be careful on the number of commitments you have - fewer at a higher quality is better than an abundance of ones that overwhelm your time. However, a diversity of commitments is healthy (just like the subjects you study in the liberal arts), too. So, finding that balance is important.