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Buff athletes- Graduation 2016

AztecBuff

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Thought I'd create this thread for us to accumulate anything anyone sees related to the Buff athletes graduating (articles, twitter or instagram posts, etc.).

Congrats to ALL the Buffs graduating, athletes and non-athletes alike, for this accomplishment. Hope all goes well in your futures!

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1st off, assume many/ most interested have already seen them, but cubuffs.com has been running feature articles (look to all be written by Neill Woelk) on some of the incredible academic accomplishments of some of the athletes. I definitely recommend reading the whole articles to those who haven't, but below, in order of the articles' release , are a few select paragraphs pulled from the articles -

1) Track/ cross country's Connor Winter (entitled CU's Winter Combines Athletics, Academics To Forge Career)- http://www.cubuffs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=600&ATCLID=210930138

"
...
It’s been a grueling five years for the Arapahoe High School product, but a challenge he has embraced nearly every step of the way.

“There were years when I hated it and I could hardly run and school was killing me,” said Winter, who also found time to work at a local running store during his stay at CU. “But it really taught me time management, how to persevere and prioritize what was important and how to be successful at multiple, different things.”

It also set the stage for his next career — entrepreneur. Winter has used his training as an elite athlete, his academic background and his industry experience to craft a wearable device for runners that will help reduce injury and improve performance, and a patent for the device is already pending. Winter has formed his own company and is ready to launch the business as soon as the details are worked out.
...

“We were talking with coach (Wetmore) and he was giving us a speech about how there’s always that fear of failure,” Winter said. “That fear of failure is what drives you to be successful. In every race, you can be at a lap to go and it’s either going to be there or it’s not. You have that fear of ‘Am I going to blow up or am I going to have an amazing race and break through to that next level?’

“It’s the same thing with business. Am I going to get to a certain point where there’s a big decision to make and if I make the wrong one, it’s failure, and if I make the right one, it’s boom — it explodes, it does the right thing? There’s a very distinct parallel between business and running. It’s training between both of them. You learn take lessons from each one and apply it to the other side.”

One thing Winter learned in his time at CU was to take advantage of every resource possible. That meant using advisers in both the College of Engineering as well as in the CU Athletic Department, along with professors, grad assistants, coaches — anyone who could offer a word of advice or encouragement.

Corey Edwards (CU Athletics academic coordinator)helped me find the technology, arts and media certificate that helped me do my graphic design for the app and helped me design the website,” Winter said. “Skills that I never thought I would have had on the creative side. Engineering management is what the school counselors recommended because it gives you some management skills. I never would have taken the business planning class. Each one has added something to the foundation and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them.”
...
"
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2) Skiing's Claire Wise (Entitled For CU's Wise, Athletics And Academics The Perfect Match)- http://www.cubuffs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=600&ATCLID=210932301

"
...
Wise, from Wenatchee, Wash., will graduate this week with a 3.88 grade point average and a degree in chemical and biological engineering. She is a member of the Dean’s List and will own the highest grade-point average in her discipline — generally regarded as one of the most difficult on campus — and has been named as this year’s Distinguished Senior in Chemical and Biological Engineering. Her academic achievements were a big part of the CU women’s skiers earning recognition as owning the best team grade point average in the CU Athletic Department (3.593) for 2015.
...

Wise described a “typical” day during ski season as one that involved a 4:50 a.m. wakeup call, giving her enough time to get to the CU ski building at 5:20 a.m. to prepare her skis. Then into a van and off to training for a couple of hours before returning to campus in time for class. After that, lunch, more classes, office hours, dinner, several hours of studying and a quick tune of her skis before bed.
...

Wise’s senior thesis was described by one of her professors, Joel Kaar, as involving “uncovering the molecular basis for the unfolding of proteins upon interaction with surfaces. Specifically, she has been investigating protein unfolding on surfaces using sophisticated single molecule methods that enable unprecedented insight to surface-induced changes in protein structure.”

In case you are wondering, that type of research is “critical given that the retention of protein structure and function on surfaces is vital in virtually all areas of biotechnology, including the development and formulation of vaccines, the use of synthetic materials as implantable scaffolds to re-grow damaged or injured tissue, and the application of biosenors for the detection of toxic compounds and biomarkers for diseases.”
...

With her degree in hand, Wise’s next step will be the Medical College Admission Test in early June, followed by applications to medical school. She will apply to a variety of schools — including CU, Washington and Stanford — and then weigh her options.
...
"
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3) Football's Derek McCartney (entitled Football, Med School: CU's McCartney Earns Degree, Eyes Both )- http://www.cubuffs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=600&ATCLID=210934322

"
...

McCartney is a starting outside linebacker for the Buffs who will graduate this weekend after just seven semesters at CU. He’ll pick up his diploma in Integrative Physiology and still have two years of NCAA eligibility remaining. (While it is a rarity for an athlete to earn his or her degree with two years of eligibility still left, two Buffs could manage the feat this year. Along with McCartney, inside linebacker Addison Gillam is also slated to pick up his degree this weekend and will also have two years of eligibility remaining.)

...

But, while athletics adds hours to the equation, it also brings a measure of discipline and work ethic to the formula.

“You have a different kind of focus as a student-athlete,” McCartney said. “As an athlete, you have to keep your grades up in order just to compete. That’s motivation in itself. But you have a different focus, a work ethic that helps you get through things. You learn how to deal with the tough times.”

McCartney will finish with 121 credit hours in his seven semesters — more than 17 hours per semester. It all dovetails into a plan that will see him choose a career in spring 2018, years that will continue to include athletics and academics.

“I love football,” he said. “I’m going to try to play it as long as I can, as long as I’m healthy.”

But while he’s playing the game the next two years, he’ll also be pursuing his master’s degree in Integrative Physiology, the next step in another pursuit that has also been a passion for almost as long as he can remember: that of becoming a doctor.
...
If all goes as McCartney plans, he’ll spend the next two years working on his master’s degree while also playing football. He will finish his master’s program in the fall of 2017 — the same fall that he plans to play his senior year of football.

That will leave the spring of 2018 as holding the next fork in the road.

“I’ll have two options: I can prepare for the NFL Draft and train if that’s an opportunity that I have, or I can prepare for the MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) and study to get into med school if football’s not there for me,” McCartney said.
...
"
 
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Aztec, thanks for this thread. Please put as many photos as you can here. I love seeing these kids graduate.
 
Aztec, thanks for this thread. Please put as many photos as you can here. I love seeing these kids graduate.

I love them too.

I limited this thread to athletes (given what Allbuffs is), but if you want to just see MANY pictures of Buffs (and/ or their families) celebrating graduation (whether they're athletes or not), I'm seeing MANY pictures via a couple links (I generally use throughout the year looking for sports news)- http://iconosquare.com/tag/gobuffs#/list and/ or http://iconosquare.com/tag/skobuffs#/list .
 
Proud of all the graduating Forever Buffs but it also makes me sad.

It reminds me how awesome life used to be when I didn't have to be a 35-year old adult.
 
Looks like Folsom is ready for tomorrow morning's "big" graduation ceremony.
 
Article with names and pictures of all 49 of the graduating student- athlete Buffs- http://www.cubuffs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=600&ATCLID=210936512 .

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Forty nine University of Colorado Boulder student-athletes received their respective degrees at Spring Commencement ceremonies Saturday at Folsom Field. The list of CU student-athlete graduates included 14 from football, eight from cross country/track & field, seven from soccer, six from skiing, four from men's basketball and women's golf, two from volleyball and one each from lacrosse, tennis, men's golf and women's basketball.

CU Athletics is proud of the academic success of its student-athletes and would like to congratulate all of the university's 2016 spring graduates.
"

Seems very cool somehow they're using the Pac 12 athletic feed (http://pac-12.com/live/university-colorado?DB_OEM_ID=600) to stream the graduation ceremony.

 
Looks like the various sport teams are starting to tweet out some or all of their various grads. I'm just going to start posting as I see them. Here's the 1st batch.



(1st D1 Lacrosse team grad ever. Looks like a great program start in what sounds like a tough major.):



 
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Cool recognition effort, Aztec. It's nice to see these athletes at this crossroads.

Best wishes to all the graduates in this next chapter of their lives.

Forever Buffs!
 
Proud of all the graduating Forever Buffs but it also makes me sad.

It reminds me how awesome life used to be when I didn't have to be a 35-year old adult.

Try being almost 65!

Their lives are truly just beginning and I hope each and every one of them has great success.
 

(Always great to see "old" (while of course still VERY young) Buffs come back and celebrate with current Buffs. For those who don't know the vball team, I believe, from left to right, the above picture is of (next season) redshirt junior Joslyn Hayes, next year seniors Gwen Herring and Katelyn Cuff, new graduates Alexis Austin and Nicole Edelman, 2013 season senior Kerra Schroeder, next year senior Katherine Hawkins (who wasn't on the team last season, but was on the team her freshman and sophomore years), and 2013 season senior Jessica Aschenbrenner.)
 
I love seeing how much these young women respect and enjoy each other and celebrate their successes.

Saw on Alexis Austin's Instagram that her photo was on the front page of the Daily Camera.

On her twitter also, but tweets protected.
 
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I thought it was weird this morning when I posted in the football and bball forums about graduating athletes that there wasn't a thread already started...I should have figured AztecBuff was already on top of it. Thanks for all of your work Aztec - you really are one of the MVPs of these message boards. I really appreciate your info and efforts.
 
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