NOTE: Join us this week as we celebrate NCAA Division III Week and highlight what it means to be a student-athlete at Hope College. On Thursday, we profile baseball player Jake Chipka.
By Caroline Hannema
The thought of pursuing a career in the medical field attracted junior track athlete Boone Marois to Hope College and ever since stepping foot on campus as a freshman, he has found himself involved in a variety of opportunities that are preparing him for the future.
When Marois was looking at colleges, nothing compared to the community he experienced at Hope. He recalls feeling welcomed and at home when he was on campus and was excited about the opportunity he would have to establish good relationships with his professors. Marois liked that he could focus on academics, but still have sports in the picture.
As a biochemistry and molecular biology major, Marois is actively involved in a faculty-student collaborative research project, focused on harvesting radioisotopes. It is an on-going project with Dr. Graham Peaslee in the Chemistry department and Marois joined the project in the summer of 2014. He continued with his research this academic year and will head to Washington University St. Louis this summer to collaborate with their graduate students on the project.
The end results of the research are unknown by Dr. Peaslee and Marois enjoys the fact that they are in it together. Through the trial and error process that is required of this research, Marois is learning how to be an independent learner and observer. Marois values this collaborative research opportunity, knowing that it will prepare him for future graduate school studies.
Beyond his collaborative research, Marois notes that Hope is a unique place because of the connections he has with other faculty members at Hope and their approach to learning in the classroom. He states, "Professors are personable, approachable, and able to help. They make you feel like you belong and help you recognize that receiving an education is about more than just getting through classes." Marois is motivated to excel in the classroom because professors at Hope go above and beyond.
While he is busy with research and academic coursework, Marois looks to his time on the track team as a way to balance the rigors of academic stress with fun competitiveness. He is grateful for the community of the team and acknowledges that his time as an athlete is teaching him lessons in leadership and service. Marois has seen there are different opportunities and different niches for people to lead. He simply states, "You have to find the best way you can contribute to the team and do that to the best of your ability."
Marois enjoys finding ways to encourage his teammates to make them better athletes. He is learning more than just how to succeed in sport, "Being on the track team teaches me how to be part of something bigger than myself. I have to learn how to sacrifice and work towards the goals of the team."
Marois knows that the rare combination of collaborative research, rigorous academic studies, and participation in Division III athletics has made for a remarkable college experience.
DIVISION III WEEK PROFILES
Monday: Men's soccer student-athlete Toby Blom
Tuesday: Women's basketball student-athlete Angelique Gaddy
Wednesday: Track & field student-athlete Boone Marois
Thursday: Baseball student-athlete Jake Chipka
Friday: Volleyball student-athlete Jayne Kessel
