Short Feature with Football Rising Sophomore Skyler Blacker

Rising sophomore Skyler Blacker, a finance major from Lake Bluff, Illinois, answers a few questions about student life at Carnegie Mellon, his internship experience, what he's looking forward to next semester, why he chose his major, and what he enjoys about Pittsburgh.

1. What do you enjoy about campus life?

I enjoy the sense of community surrounding Carnegie Mellon as a whole and additionally the smaller communities involving Greek life, sports, and other extracurricular activities.

2. What do you get involved in outside of football?

My main non-sport extracurricular activity was joining a fraternity and volunteering in events such as special olympics. I found activities outside of that difficult to participate in due to their meetings usually being during football practice.

3. What are your summer plans?

Make as much money as possible, working out with some old friends and teammates, and enjoy having an otherwise relaxing summer beside the pool.

4. What are you excited for next semester?

I'm actually pretty excited to move away from a lot of the gen-ed courses and move closer to concentration-specific ones. I also look forward to having a solid understanding of the campus before arriving for camp (not being the new kid on the block).

5. Why did you select your course of study – what class have you enjoyed the most?

Business administration covers a large variety of jobs and I felt it would best suit me in my career search. Thus far my favorite class has been microeconomics because the decision making theories/models and being able to predict outcomes was very interesting for me.

6. What class has been recommended as a MUST TAKE class at CMU?

I've been told acting for business is the best creative production breath course as it is pretty easy and at the same time beneficial for your presentation/speaking skills.

7. What have you enjoyed about living in Pittsburgh?

I have enjoyed being close enough to walk into the city but at the same time being in a more suburban environment. Kinda the best of both worlds.

8. What has been a memorable moment so far during your time on the team?

I just didn't really realize how much time I'd spend with some of the guys on my team but we have the same practice schedule, school schedule, and are members of the same fraternity for the large part. I think I'll always remember how much we came to rely on each other for mental and emotional reassurance at a difficult university.