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PROFILE: Wayward Son Finds All Roads Lead to Marietta

Applying for college was the last thing on 18-year-old Mike Pankowski’s mind that day when his mom came into the room and she told him he didn’t have a choice.

Mike lived in the present and with prom coming up and his girlfriend on his arm the world couldn’t have been better. But his mom was serious so he applied to three colleges, one of them being Marietta College.

“My mom took me up to Marietta four weekends in a row to see the school and the baseball coach wanted me here too so I said OK let’s do it,” said Pankowski.

That was in 2005 and Mike is still on his path of discovery, finding himself back at Marietta for the third time in 2010. It wasn’t an easy journey but one he learned from.

“I am not one to regret things, as I stand behind every action I have taken. If I could ‘change’ one aspect of my life, it would have been my decision to neglect the college search. I believe that if I would have listened to my mother and taken the time to look at colleges of all types and sizes, then my life would have been different. I am not saying for the better, but none-the-less, completely different. Change is never bad, but a different challenge in life that opens up new doors to opportunity,” said Pankowski.

The summer of 2005 came and went quickly and Mike found himself in his first semester freshmen year that went really well ending up with a 3.1 GPA. The beginning was a little rocky because when the first baseball practice rolled around, he slept through it. The ironic thing is though it ended up working out well in the end because track and field became his new passion.

“Everything happens for a reason and one day I decided to talk to Coach (Derek) Stanley and ask if I could throw the javelin because I had done it in high school,” said Pankowski. “I got really into it and ended up getting the school record that spring.”

Unfortunately Mike blew out his back that spring as well and he lost a lot of his direction in life. When he came back for the fall ready for track and field he tore his ACL during an intramural flag football game. From then on, it all went down hill and any direction or motivation Mike had was gone. That semester consisted of surgery, rehab and no schoolwork. So when grades came along, straight C’s didn’t let him keep his scholarship and his parents told him they weren’t paying anymore.

“I had to make a decision at that point and I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life so I decided some time off was the best option,” said Pankowski. “I didn’t tell anyone I was leaving because it was really embarrassing. I had a lot of friends at school and I feel like I let down a lot of people.”

Pankowski’s best friend Kevin Rykaceski has stood by his side through all his ups and downs.

“Mike and I have been friends since we were 10 years old after I beat him up playing basketball, I guess that united us because we still hang out all the time,” said Rykaceski. “Mike’s that one friend that when either of us are having a bad day we call each other up and I mean if he called me one day and said he wanted to go to Hawaii, I would go.”

Mike got a job at a pool company where he eventually became a pool manger and in the spotlight all the time. Then one day at work in 2008 it all hit him at once.

“I was standing there with all these people around me asking questions and damning orders out of me as I’m trying to organize everything and I had to go, I had to get out of there,” said Pankowski. “I went to lunch by myself and right then and there decided to go back to Marietta.”

So Mike decided to go back to Marietta for a semester and just signed up for classes and went. There were still a lot of people there he knew so needless to say some were in shock when he dropped off the planet for two years and then just showed up at school one day.

“I just wanted to go to school for a semester and prove to myself I could do it, so I took three classes and got A’s in all three,” said Pankowski. “But I still didn’t know what I wanted to do so I went back to work.”

That next year was when Mike really found his true passion and put everything together. He was working at a lumberyard 6am-530pm, at the pool, taking night classes three days a week and waiting tables on the weekend. He also starting mountain biking and fell in love with the outdoors.

“Me and my friends would go on trips and live off the land for five days at a time, I absolutely loved it,” said Pankowski. “This brought me to realize what I really wanted to do with my life and that I wanted to go back to school to study environmental science.”

So in October 2009 Mike found himself calling Coach Stanley again, applying for classes and renting an apartment in downtown Marietta. It had been a long journey but he knew for sure this time he wanted to be there and it was worth his money.

Pankowski’s Javelin coach now, Ken Ciolek had only positive things to say about his return.

“From the two conversations that we had I knew that I was dealing with a rare breed. Mike is the type of person that all teachers, and coaches search for. Motivated to succeed and eager to learn along with the type of understanding of the “big picture” that many of us are still trying to grasp and understand. I find myself learning from him as much if not more that he learns from me in our correspondence at javelin practice,” said Ciolek.

With the rest of his life before him Mike looks back on his experiences with knowledge and understanding.

“My experiences showed me that there is more to life than that great car, the cool group, or the college degree. Yes, I feel with my degree I will prove myself to many, but it takes more than that for someone to prove themselves to me. I have met people with a high school education who work in the real world, and I would be willing to put my life in their hands over 95 percent of the people at Marietta College, or all college grads for that matter,” said Pankowski. “Point is, the world revolves around the belief that winning this competition makes a person, or the college degree makes me better than you and so on. My experiences helped me realize who I was, and who I wanted to be, not because of my neighbor or because of her/his success in life, but because I now have 1,000 doors in front of me, and it’s up to me, and only me to pick the path of my life. It’s my life to live, my life to choose and my life to party.”

EDITOR’S NOTE:  This article is by Danielle Staub, a Media Writing Two student at Marietta College.  If you are interested in writing for Writing on the Mall, send an e-mail to Patrick_H@writingonthemall.net.

Resident Assistant Positions Growing Interest

The position for a Resident Assistant at Marietta College is becoming more popular every year and the selection process is more competitive as well.

“I really want to be a RA for many reasons,” said sophomore Corey Clause. “But I’m really nervous about whether I’m going to get it or not because there are so many people taking the class to be one, I have to be able to stand out.”

To try and be a Resident Assistant the student has to take the class Lead 121 and pass with a C or better. Their grade point average has to be a minimum of 2.5 as well as having good academic and disciplinary standing. The instructors also hold interviews for potential candidates toward the end of the class that plays a very important role in the selection.

“The ability to problem solve, good decision making skills, leadership skills, a positive attitude and someone that wants to work with students and be a member of the Marietta College community,” said Richard Ciccone, the Resident Director on Fourth Street about what skills they look for in a Resident Assistant.

There is an increase of interest in the program this year with roughly 50 students enrolled in the class. Last year they had approximately 20 students per class but this year they decided to add another class of 20 as well because of more students interested.

“I love being an RA,” said Andy Guimond, a sophomore RA in McCoy Hall. “My favorite part is having people that have to talk to you, I’ve met a boat load of more people on campus since I’ve been an RA.”

Being a Residential Assistant is not always just fun though it takes a lot of work such as between being on duty, meetings and the personal programs.

“My least favorite part is the programs we have to put on because they take too much time,” said Guimond.

There are many pros and cons to being a Residential Assistant but all signs seem to be pointing towards yes to more and more students each year who are deciding to take a little time out of their social life to save money.

This article was written by Danielle Staub, a student taking Media Writing Two at Marietta College.  Look for more articles from the class to appear on Writing on the Mall in the coming weeks.  If you are interested in writing for Writing on the Mall, please e-mail patrick_h at writingonthemall dot net.

Could You Go 72 Hours Without Technology?

The challenge presented was for a group of students to go one weekend, Friday at noon until Monday at noon without their cell phone or Facebook. Out of 27 people only three attempted this feat and only one accomplished it.

“I took one look at Dr. (Robert) McManus and shook my head,” said Corryn Muench, sophomore at Marietta College. “I am on my phone all day, everyday and there is no possible way I could go without it. I wasn’t going to do it, let alone even try it.”

Leadership Professor at Marietta College, Dr. Robert McManus is teaching a class on Global Leadership and decided to see if his students could survive without this “steroid” of technology.

“I thought a few would take me up on it, but I didn’t expect anyone to be able to do it,” he said. “Maybe one, which was the case. Even then I was surprised he made it, but good for him!”

Only one student in the class was able to accomplish this by having his girlfriend lock his cell phone and computer in her room. Fifteen years ago college campuses hadn’t really even heard the idea of a cell phone.

“I lived in a dorm with two pay phones for about 100 men,” said McManus. “There was always a line for the phone and a number of runs to the grocery store to find quarters.”

This would have been a simple task back then but in today’s world students are connected to their phone and the Internet 24/7 with school, work and social networking. Some students did try and attempt this task but found themselves having to think of things to do because they could not use their computer or cell phone.

“The minute I got back to my room I was about to go to my desk to flip my computer on and I stopped myself. I couldn’t believe that my first instinct has been to go for my computer!” said Kristin Norton, sophomore at Marietta. “I then proceeded to sit on my couch for a good ten minutes trying to figure out what to do. I read a book.”

Norton lasted 24 hours without her phone or the Internet, which was much more than anyone else did, but she forgot when she came back from a dance and wanted to show her friend in Peru a photo she had taken that night. After she had already uploaded the photo she realized she broken the assignment.

The technology of this world is starting to take over our every day, making us overly dependent on it. The question is though, is this a good thing or is it in reality hindering us by taking away that face to face real connection with people?

The challenge to you is think of any part of your life that is not reliant upon some form of computer.

This article was written by Danielle Staub, a student taking Media Writing 2 at Marietta College.  Look for more articles from the class to appear on Writing on the Mall in the coming weeks.  If you are interested in writing for Writing on the Mall, please e-mail patrick_h at writingonthemall dot net.