How are you enjoying life away from home?  How is the school campus/residence?

Life away from home is pretty different.  It is difficult to not have my own bed, bathroom, homemade meals and my friends from high school.  Being on campus is great.  No bedtimes, curfews, nothing like that.  Sometimes it plays in to my favour, but I have to keep focused on school and lacrosse.

Have you started lacrosse practice/weight training? How has that been so far? When is your first fall ball game?

We are right into lacrosse and weightlifting to start off.  Lacrosse practice is 5 times a week, one of those being box lacrosse, and another being a scrimmage.  The box lacrosse is great.  We have a lot of Canadians at RMU who know the game but the American's are still learning.  We weight lift as a team 3 times a week at 5:15am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  Our first fall ball tournament is in Cleveland on October 10th.

What is your course schedule like this semester?  How are you managing the balance between school, athletics and your social life?

My course schedule is pretty tricky on some days with 4 classes, practice, lift, and study hall.  My other two days are fairly simple though.  It is tough to balance between school, athletics and enjoying freshman experience. Time management is the key to being successful in all aspects.  So far so good.

What are your academic/athletic goals this year?

I want to achieve a 3.5 GPA and get playing time this year as a freshman.

What are you enjoying the most so far about the experience?

I enjoy being on my own.  Having my own priorities and making my own schedule.  It is such a big change from home and I think I am managing it very well so far.  A key advantage for me, is that my roommate is Adrian Torak, who I've known and played with through Edge.  We get along great and are known as the "Canadians" by the other 16 freshman lax players.  As well, my brother, Eric, is a senior at RMU (a former Edge player).  It's great to have him here as support.

How are you enjoying life away from home?  How is the school campus/residence?

So far, Mercer has been an unbelievable experience.  The campus is beautiful and there are always a lot of cool events happening.

Have you started lacrosse practice/weight training? How has that been so far? When is your first fall ball game?

We have started our fall ball practices and weight training and they have been a lot of fun.  The next level is pretty demanding and it takes some time to adjust to the game.  Our fall ball games will be at the end of October.

What is your course schedule like this semester?  How are you managing the balance between school, athletics and your social life?

My course schedule is pretty heavy right now.  In terms of balancing everything, it's about prioritizing and making smart decisions.  Mercer offers a lot of tutoring and academic assistance which has made the transition easier.

What are your academic/athletic goals this year?

Academically, I want to establish good study habits so I can be successful for all my years here.  Athletically, I want to become a complete division I player and athlete.

What are you enjoying the most so far about the experience?

So far the overall college experience has been awesome.  I am looking forward to continuing my growth as a student-athlete.

How are you enjoying life away from home? How is the school
campus/residence?

Life away from home is certainly not what I thought. When your parents are always around the incentive is to get them to leave you alone, so you can be more independent. Then as soon as they are not around at all, you realize how much easier life was back home in their care. That is not to say I am not absolutely loving it down here. The campus is beautiful and I have made great friends with most people in my residence especially on my floor. 

Have you started lacrosse practice/weight training? How has that
been so far? When is your first fall ball game/event?

Fall ball began a week after my arrival, didn't get very much time to settle in. However, there is a lot to prepare for and we are not wasting time getting game ready. We are practicing on field about 4 times a week, lifting and doing individual work twice a week. Our first fall ball games are mid-october against Georgetown and Lehigh.

 What is your course schedule like this semester? How are you
managing the balance between school, athletics and your social life?

My course schedule is very manageable for first semester because I would like to see how I could balance lacrosse and my work load. I have four classes tuesdays and thursdays and one on monday. Freshman are required to doc 6 hours of study hall pre week. So far, it is much more work then I am used to but feel as if I am coping well. There is very little social time because now lacrosse is more then a hobby it is a job.

 What are your academic/athletic goals this year?

My Academic goals for the year are to obtain a 3.0 or above that is our teams standard. Athletically, I wish to expand my knowledge of the game and get up to D1 level speed.

What are you enjoying the most so far about the experience?

My favorite part about this new experience is probably the great group of people I have already grown close with. The unity and family atmosphere of the team as a whole is something I haven't experienced before. Whenever you are in need you can always depend on your brothers. 

How are you enjoying life away from home? How is the school
campus/residence?

I have truly enjoyed my time at Princeton thus far, even though it is so far from home. I spent my high school years away from home as well so it was not a huge adjustment for me. The campus here is beautiful, with so much rich history and tradition. It pays off to stop during the day and look around at the amazing buildings and creative architecture on campus.

Have you started lacrosse practice/weight training? How has that
been so far? When is your first fall ball game/event?

We have been playing and lifting regularly since school has started. I have had the chance to scrimmage with the guys on the team in captains practices, play in small groups with the coaches during individuals, and lift and condition with the team in the weight room. It is definitely a step up from the high school level as every player is a top D1 athlete, and trying to get a spot on the field come spring time. Our first fall ball event is our annual Alumni game on September 27, then we are participating in the Play for Parkinsons fall ball tournament on October 5 in Virginia. Both are highly anticipated and I cannot wait to see our team put into motion as well as participate in both amazing events.

What is your course schedule like this semester? How are you
managing the balance between school, athletics and your social life?

My course schedule this semester is fairly basic for new students, and my classes require significant amounts of reading and writing. It has been tough adjusting to the work load while also having lacrosse almost every day. It helps having a close group of guys on the team that are all experiencing the same thing, as we keep on top of each other both in the classroom as well as on the lacrosse field. Also the returners on the team have made the transition very smooth and have been a huge help in my academic and athletic well-being, as well as being a group of guys that I can look to just to hangout with at any time of the day or night.

What are your academic/athletic goals this year?

My academic goals this year are to not simply get by, but to perform well in all of my classes and to keep up with my work without stressing out too much, which may be easier said than done at Princeton. My athletic goals are to do everything in my power to help the team have a successful year. Whether that is getting a chance to play in games or just pushing the other guys to get better in practices, I will be sure to help towards the team's goal of winning a national championship.

What are you enjoying the most so far about the experience?

The thing I have enjoyed the most so far is the way the team has bonded and welcomed myself and the other freshmen. Without a group of guys like those on my team, I don't know how I would handle the transition academically, athletically or socially. 

How are you enjoying life away from home? How is the school
campus/residence?

Life away from home is something completely new to me. It has its ups and downs. I’m doing my own laundry and I don’t have my own room anymore. But then again you get a lot more responsibilities thrown at you which is nice. More freedom. Campus here at leo is by far the nicest I have seen of my five visits. Palm trees and a beach volley ball court right outside my dorm. Food is good here as well, not to mention it is always worm as I’m in Florida.

Have you started lacrosse practice/weight training? How has that
been so far? When is your first fall ball game/event?

I have started both fall practices and weight training. The lifting part of this is a lot different from when I was working out on my own. Here our focus is proper form and exercises that will make us not just better lacrosse players but better athletes. The practices are two hours of non-stop lacrosse. We start every practice with the double diamond as we did with edge which helped a lot as the drill comes very easy to me now. Practice pace is extremely fast. Our motto here is that we make full speed mistakes and always get the next one if we drop a ball. Our first fall ball scrimmage is on October 10th and we play USF.

 What is your course schedule like this semester? How are you
managing the balance between school, athletics and your social life?

My class schedule this semester is pretty balanced. I generally have a couple hours off between practice and classes. My only friends at school are the guys on the team. But that’s ok, all the guys are great and it’s unreal getting to spend time with them.

What are your academic/athletic goals this year?

My academic goal this year is to attain a 4.0 GPA and for athletics is to crack a spot as one of the three starting attack.

What are you enjoying the most so far about the experience?

What I am enjoying most about the school so far is that although school is and will always come first, the lacrosse is like a business. Everyone is on the same page and everyone is fighting for a position.    

How are you enjoying life away from home? How is the school
campus/residence?

I am adjusting well to life away from home and I am enjoying the freedom and responsibility. Campus is small and easy to navigate for my classes and there is usually something going on for the students that is organized by the school. Residence is one thing that I would encourage all new college students to make sure they get on top of. By not getting on top of figuring out my residence information I ended up being in a two person dorm with three people so you can imagine it would be a bit tight fitting. The school did compensate for that by returning 500$ on my tuition.

Have you started lacrosse practice/weight training? How has that
been so far? When is your first fall ball game/event?

We have been in training and lifting for a couple of weeks now and it is definitely challenging and tough. We do our E.T.S training on monday mornings, named by the coach, Embrace The Suck. and then lifting on Tuesdays and Fridays with more training on Thursdays and Saturdays followed by an inter-squad scrimmage. 

What is your course schedule like this semester? How are you
managing the balance between school, athletics and your social life?

My course schedule is not bad for this semester. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are my “busy” days because I have four, fifty minute classes. Tuesdays and Thursdays I have one, eighty minute class in the morning and then a two hour lab on Thursdays. The coaches are really helping me with balancing my work time with lacrosse time by assigning me study hall hours. Right now my study hall hours are scheduled for two hours in coaches office Monday and Wednesday, three hours in coaches office on Tuesday, one hour Thursday in coaches office then four hours a week in the school study hall building; all in all I have to ten hours of study hall per week. 

What are your academic/athletic goals this year?

My academic goal for this year is to achieve a high enough G.P.A to be able to schedule my own study hall hours and give myself a bit more free time and not have to sit in study hall for my scheduled time with no more work to do. My athletic goal is to match or beat some of the upper classmen’s  performances and impress the coaches. I want to do my best to be a starting, impact player that the coaches want on the field to make a difference. If that is not possible I still want to do my best to make it to second string and still be able to get paying time.

What are you enjoying the most so far about the experience?

The experience so far has been great. I love the freedom and responsibility to get things done that I need to do. All of the returning players have been great to me and many of the other freshman while the freshman as well have all been there to encourage and hangout with each other. Learning new things to incorporate into my style of game by watching returning players, playing with them on the field and being taught new things from coaches has helped my defines become more solid and diverse.