![]() ![]() She bought math and science workbooks two to three levels above his current grade and expected him to complete the work. A first generation college graduate and single mom, Venita felt it was her duty to make sure John filled every part of that giant, helmet-averse head with as much math and science as he could. His mother, Venita Parker, set high academic standards for her son, and John made it his mission to meet them. John Urschel is, justifiably, a big deal.Įven as a kid, it was obvious John was headed for great things. ![]() If that wasn't impressive enough, during his last year at Penn State he taught a trigonometry class to undergraduates while fulfilling all his obligations to his team and also published a paper, "Instabilities of the Sun-Jupiter-Asteroid Three Body Problem," in the journal Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy. Campbell Trophy, presented by the National Football Foundation to the nation's top football scholar-athlete, and this month he became the 84th annual Sullivan Award winner for the top amateur athlete in the country, joining past big-name winners Peyton Manning, Tim Tebow, Michael Phelps and Michelle Kwan. In addition to being selected as a first-team All-Big Ten guard, he recently completed both bachelor's and master's degrees in mathematics at Penn State, graduating with a 4.0 GPA. If we determined our sports superstars based on a combination of sports skills and academic prowess, John Urschel would be the undisputed #1 pick in this year's NFL draft. And no, it wasn't the stereotypical "big head" you might normally associate with a standout athlete. It wasn't that his skills were lacking, it was just that his head was too big. When Penn State graduate and 2014 NFL prospect John Urschel tried out for his middle school football team, he didn't make it. Studying a subject you love while surrounded by hot chocolate and cats? Anderlik knows how to celebrate - just like Ole mathletes know how to compete.Meet John Urschel, the Smartest Athlete in the NFL Draft Currently, I am in Budapest studying number theory the cafes here are perfect for sipping thick hot chocolate with a cat and pondering modular arithmetic.” I’m always impressed by how creative a group of people can be. The professors are great, from having inspirational, magnificent beards to having children who already are learning how to say ‘differential equations.’ My peers in the math major never fail to disappoint either. “Since coming here, I have gotten a taste of the different types of math that I may use in a career, and I look forward to taking more challenging classes here in the future.”Īnderlik - a chemistry, mathematics, and physics major - also has nothing but praise for the Ole way: “The math major at St. Olaf was for the variety of math classes that it offered,” says Hofstad, who is majoring in mathematics and physics. “For all of my life I knew I wanted to pursue math, and one primary reason I chose to come to St. Olaf’s first place team, Jakob Hofstad ’20 and Eric Anderlik ’20, say the college’s math program is top-notch. With all that talent, it’s no surprise Oles took the competition by storm. That makes mathematics the third-highest declared major among Oles. In fact, mathematics is one of the college’s most popular majors, with 194 students currently enrolled. Olaf doesn’t just have successful math students: it has a lot of successful math students. In fact, five out of the six teams finished in the top third of the competition.īut St. One Ole team took first place and another took second place. The results: another impressive set of successes. So this year, the six teams of Oles participated in the competition and met their fate. But worry not, because Oles only ever up the game. Olaf having claimed first place last year, the pressure was on. The competition: 61 other teams from 28 regional colleges and universities. These students collaborate on 10 problems at their home campuses. Each team can include up to three students. Olaf College competed in the 21st annual team problem-solving contest hosted by the Mathematical Association of America’s North Central Section. On your mark, get set, math! This year, six teams from St. He recreated one of the problems from the contest on the board behind him in Tomson Hall. Olaf was for the variety of math classes that it offered,” says Jakob Hofstad ’20, who took first place in the math problem-solving contest alongside Eric Anderlik ’20. “One primary reason I chose to come to St. ![]()
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