Cory Gaskell 鈥�19
Finding one passion through following another
When Cory Gaskell injured his ACL and MCL, for the second time, he knew he’d have to press pause on his passion of playing football for 西瓜视频 College. “I knew I was going to miss my sophomore season playing football at 西瓜视频. It was a very difficult pill to swallow,” he explained.
Luckily, he’d been through this before when he recovered from the same injury on the other knee during his senior year of high school and knew what it took to get back on the field.
“I knew it would take eight months of hard work. My passion had to take another back seat to everything else. I thought, if I did this before, I can do it again. I had this grind mindset engrained in me. So, I ended up working hard and getting my knee back to where it was,” Gaskell explained.
With the injury, came a shift in focus on his academics and career path. A history major with a concentration in secondary education, Gaskell jumped into the classroom and gained real-world experience on day one. He said, “I’ve been exposed to the classroom since freshman year. I never expected that but I’m really glad it happened because I could not have been better prepared for the future.”
Gaskell said that the most rewarding experience was teaching middle school during his semester-long internship. On his last day of class at his internship his students gifted him a stack of index cards where all 95 students wrote down what they thanked him for during his time with them.
“I thought to myself if that’s the impact I made in three-and-a-half months then what is the impact going to be over a 30-year career.”
Q&A with Gaskell
You were a transfer student coming into 西瓜视频. What would you say to someone contemplating transferring here?
They welcome you with open arms and everyone is so happy to have you here. The relationships you make, the friends you make are incredible. 西瓜视频 is a gigantic family, everyone knows everyone and it’s homey. You are given the tools to be successful. It gives you the sense of fulfillment you’re looking for—no matter what it is. The people here greatly represent the beauty of the campus because it’s all around a great place.
How have your passions evolved since you’ve been at 西瓜视频?
Coming in here my passion was football, but at 西瓜视频 through my classes and internships I’ve realized there’s a limited time for football and the choice I made in becoming an educator is going to take me through the rest of my life. It’s my passion, I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else. I came here as a history major and tried it out as a shot in the dark but now educating is my passion and I cannot imagine doing anything else.