Q: You recently graduated from Case Western Reserve University. That is not a bad school to earn a degree from. Where do you go from here? Are you going into any post-graduate programs? Job lined up?
A: Case Western was a terrific experience. I was fortunate during my four year tenure to get my bachelors and masters degree. I was also given the opportunity to continue an internship at Rosetta, one of the largest digital marketing firms, through college and began my job there mid-July of this year. I was given a terrific promotion out of college and I help large companies measure and optimize their digital marketing strategies.
Q: While at Case you were the OSPCA Student Ambassador, President of the Inter-fraternity Congress, undergraduate representative on the Dean search committee for the Weatherford School of Management, part of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity and you lettered at linebacker in football your first two years (I hope I did not miss anything). You really took "getting involved" to heart. Why would you recommend getting involved in multiple organizations to an outgoing high school junior or senior?
A: Starting college is very exciting and full of change with one of the largest changes being that you take control of your own future. In the end, college is like everything else in life – you get out of it what you put into it. The best way to ensure that you will love your college is experience is to get involved. What most people don’t realize is that college is 25% what you learn in the classroom, 75% what you learn through the experience. Who can you meet and surround yourself with to make you a better person? What type of life changing experiences can you have? What can you tell an employer makes you different than the other 100 people they are interviewing? It’s all about the experience and seizing opportunities that come up so that you graduate college with more than an expensive piece of paper. The most successful people I know out of college are the ones who got involved, developed strong networks, and now have awesome jobs out of school.
Q: You have your own blog- www.linderwell.com... Tell me a little about that.
A: I love the idea of blogs - sharing interesting knowledge and experiences with the web. I have a long list of topics that I would like to write about that share vicarious experiences and stories, provide advice, and discuss new topics in digital marketing. The problem at the moment is taking the time to write the blog, I plan on giving it more attention soon.
Q: You and Jimmy Millar, another Hilliard Davidson graduate, are writing a book "A Is For Average", emphasizing that grades are no longer the metric of success. A book like that would have helped my confidence a lot coming out of HS. How is that coming along? (I want a copy when you are finished.)
A: Haha, this is an exciting side project with my close friend and fellow fraternity brother Jimmy. We both had intentions on doing projects in this area, providing advice to others about seizing opportunities around them and gaining the “experience” I previously talked about, and realized we could combine our ideas and become a great force. We have a very solid outline and a few chapters written. We still have a ways to go but the hope is that we can inspire and educate others to realize high school and college are so much more than grades and give them the lift up that we were grateful to get (through our fraternity and athletics).
Definitely will get you a copy.
Q: For any struggling student-athlete, what advice can you offer?
A: Always keep a positive attitude and stay disciplined. Good things happen to good people because they put themselves in positions to be successful. Focus on things you can control – hard work, focus, preparation, etc. – in the end those end up being the differentiators.
Q: Excluding your State Championship, what is your favorite Davidson football memory?
A: I doubt there is just one for anyone that plays at Davidson, some of my favorites include jumping on top of the pile during pregame my senior year, the 10 yard box drill during 2 a days, and crushing people on kick offs. There is also the countless amount of time spent with guys on the team on Sunday mornings, 5am lifting sessions, and hanging out before practices and games.
Q: Did you have a favorite Hilliard "hot spot" growing up?
A: My backyard! We have a pool and bonfire pit which was consistently the place to hangout. When we weren’t there it was definitely Chipotle (4+ times a week)
Q: How did your Hilliard education prepare you for where you are today?
A: In addition to providing some college credit, high school provided a good time to learn the most effective way of studying and balancing time. It also put in perspective what something like football meant to the school and the community – more than most people would think.
Q: If you could go back 8 years (when you were a HS freshman) and do anything differently, what would it be?
A: This is a tough question, some close friends and I tossed this question around recently and I struggled to find anything – I truly enjoyed my high school experience. I wouldn’t have changed anything major; if anything I would have put more emphasis on finding a way to make an impact on the team earlier in high school.
Q: What advice do you have for the current Hilliard Davidson football team?
A: Leave it all on the field and take in the important moments – home openers, homecomings, playoff games, senior game, and the first and last two a days. There is nothing like Davidson high school football - the tradition, community, and brotherhood that is built up is unmatched anywhere else or on any other level.
A: Case Western was a terrific experience. I was fortunate during my four year tenure to get my bachelors and masters degree. I was also given the opportunity to continue an internship at Rosetta, one of the largest digital marketing firms, through college and began my job there mid-July of this year. I was given a terrific promotion out of college and I help large companies measure and optimize their digital marketing strategies.
Q: While at Case you were the OSPCA Student Ambassador, President of the Inter-fraternity Congress, undergraduate representative on the Dean search committee for the Weatherford School of Management, part of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity and you lettered at linebacker in football your first two years (I hope I did not miss anything). You really took "getting involved" to heart. Why would you recommend getting involved in multiple organizations to an outgoing high school junior or senior?
A: Starting college is very exciting and full of change with one of the largest changes being that you take control of your own future. In the end, college is like everything else in life – you get out of it what you put into it. The best way to ensure that you will love your college is experience is to get involved. What most people don’t realize is that college is 25% what you learn in the classroom, 75% what you learn through the experience. Who can you meet and surround yourself with to make you a better person? What type of life changing experiences can you have? What can you tell an employer makes you different than the other 100 people they are interviewing? It’s all about the experience and seizing opportunities that come up so that you graduate college with more than an expensive piece of paper. The most successful people I know out of college are the ones who got involved, developed strong networks, and now have awesome jobs out of school.
Q: You have your own blog- www.linderwell.com... Tell me a little about that.
A: I love the idea of blogs - sharing interesting knowledge and experiences with the web. I have a long list of topics that I would like to write about that share vicarious experiences and stories, provide advice, and discuss new topics in digital marketing. The problem at the moment is taking the time to write the blog, I plan on giving it more attention soon.
Q: You and Jimmy Millar, another Hilliard Davidson graduate, are writing a book "A Is For Average", emphasizing that grades are no longer the metric of success. A book like that would have helped my confidence a lot coming out of HS. How is that coming along? (I want a copy when you are finished.)
A: Haha, this is an exciting side project with my close friend and fellow fraternity brother Jimmy. We both had intentions on doing projects in this area, providing advice to others about seizing opportunities around them and gaining the “experience” I previously talked about, and realized we could combine our ideas and become a great force. We have a very solid outline and a few chapters written. We still have a ways to go but the hope is that we can inspire and educate others to realize high school and college are so much more than grades and give them the lift up that we were grateful to get (through our fraternity and athletics).
Definitely will get you a copy.
Q: For any struggling student-athlete, what advice can you offer?
A: Always keep a positive attitude and stay disciplined. Good things happen to good people because they put themselves in positions to be successful. Focus on things you can control – hard work, focus, preparation, etc. – in the end those end up being the differentiators.
Q: Excluding your State Championship, what is your favorite Davidson football memory?
A: I doubt there is just one for anyone that plays at Davidson, some of my favorites include jumping on top of the pile during pregame my senior year, the 10 yard box drill during 2 a days, and crushing people on kick offs. There is also the countless amount of time spent with guys on the team on Sunday mornings, 5am lifting sessions, and hanging out before practices and games.
Q: Did you have a favorite Hilliard "hot spot" growing up?
A: My backyard! We have a pool and bonfire pit which was consistently the place to hangout. When we weren’t there it was definitely Chipotle (4+ times a week)
Q: How did your Hilliard education prepare you for where you are today?
A: In addition to providing some college credit, high school provided a good time to learn the most effective way of studying and balancing time. It also put in perspective what something like football meant to the school and the community – more than most people would think.
Q: If you could go back 8 years (when you were a HS freshman) and do anything differently, what would it be?
A: This is a tough question, some close friends and I tossed this question around recently and I struggled to find anything – I truly enjoyed my high school experience. I wouldn’t have changed anything major; if anything I would have put more emphasis on finding a way to make an impact on the team earlier in high school.
Q: What advice do you have for the current Hilliard Davidson football team?
A: Leave it all on the field and take in the important moments – home openers, homecomings, playoff games, senior game, and the first and last two a days. There is nothing like Davidson high school football - the tradition, community, and brotherhood that is built up is unmatched anywhere else or on any other level.