Make friends in different departments and don’t take your team for granted!

Name, School, Major, Sport and Position, Hometown

Pat Passalacqua, SEAS, Operations Research: Analytics, Football, Defensive Line, Old Tappan, New Jersey

What are three things you wish you’d known as a freshman and would like to tell athletes in the Class of 2029?

1. Columbia is incredibly decentralized, meaning that all of the different departments that make up the university scarcely know what is going on with one another and rarely communicate. Build relationships with people across these different departments. The greater your network within the Columbia community, the easier time you will have clearing the inevitable hurdles that will get in your way during your time here.
2. Be where your feet are. Being a student-athlete at Columbia is stressful. The best way to manage that stress and to be successful is to be all in on whatever you are doing at the present moment. If you are in class, be the best student possible. If you are on the field, be the best athlete possible.
3. Enjoy the company of your teammates. You only have four years to be a part of a Columbia sports team. There is a good chance it will be the greatest group of people you will ever be a part of. Don’t take it for granted. Get to know your teammates. Have fun with them. Learn from them. They will be some of the most valuable and cherished relationships in your life.

What’s your favorite team memory? 

I would have to say winning and celebrating the Ivy League Championship on Kraft Field with my teammates, coaches, family, and alumni. That is a moment I will never forget. Being able to make history at this great university was such an incredible honor and something that the entire CUFB community could enjoy.

What has being on a sports team at Columbia meant to you? 

Being an athlete at CU has meant everything to me. Number one, it has provided me with a community for life. I have met my people through the athletics programs at Columbia, and have forged incredibly strong relationships through the shared struggle and triumph that playing sports at an Ivy League institution in NYC offers. Number two, my experiences as a student athlete here have shaped who I am personally. The habits that I picked up during my time here in order to succeed will stick with me for the rest of my life as I move on to different chapters of my life.

Whom would you like to thank?

During this period of reflection, as I have been getting ready to graduate from Columbia, I have had the opportunity to think about just how many people I have to thank for the incredible experience I have been lucky enough to have at Columbia. There are simply too many people to name. I would like to start by thanking my parents and family. They laid the foundation of the man I am today, and without them, I would be a completely different person. Next, I would like to thank all of my teachers, professors, and coaches throughout the years. The passion that all of you have demonstrated while mentoring me inspired me to match it. Learning from people who truly love what they teach and care about the people they are teaching makes all the difference. I have been so lucky to have crossed paths with educators and coaches who genuinely care. Finally, I’d just like to thank my teammates. My teammates are my best friends and greatest supporters. They will have me in their corner forever. They are what made the early mornings and the late nights worth enduring. Thank you guys.

One thing you’d do if you had more time?

It’s hard for me to say. I feel like I squeezed everything out of this experience. I did everything I could to make the most of it and did my best to enjoy all of the different aspects of it in the process. With that being said, nothing gave me more joy during my time here than getting to know my teammates. I loved sitting around and hanging out with the amazing people I got to play with, and because I was so busy, there were times when I did not feel like I did enough of that. So if I had more time, I would just spend more time connecting with my teammates on a personal level and forging those relationships even tighter.

Image via Columbia University Athletics/Stockton Photo