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Ball State student-athletes reflect on time as Cardinals before embarking on future careers.
Corbin Hubert
Reporter
Imagine you are graduating college. You are only a few moments away from being done with the education system for the rest of your life. But that worries you, because it is all you have ever known. So, you wonder, “What comes next?”
These three Ball State seniors have already answered that question.
While many college graduates enter the job market right after receiving their diplomas without a position secured, senior swimmer Ryan Short was able to get a job before graduation. Having already completed an internship, he has an offer he plans on accepting in corporate finance. Corporate financiers typically advise companies on decisions regarding long-term and short-term fiscal goals.
Short attributes his ability to secure a job before graduation to setting aside time for networking and researching companies. He said his internship was what sold him on corporate finance.
“I preferred the hands-on experience compared to the classroom setting,” Short said. “Getting an internship is something I highly recommend.”
Short’s message for every student, not just student-athletes, is to plan ahead for the future. program history.
Similar to Short, Ball State Men’s Volleyball graduate student setter Quinn Isaacson has also accepted a job offer, but Isaacson’s future profession is something he spends time on now and has throughout his whole collegiate
- MELISSA DICEMAN, Graduate student soccer midfielder/forward
In the 2019-20 season, Short took eighth in the 1650 free at the Mid-American Conference Championships with a time of 16:04.92, which was the fifth-fastest individual time in career: volleyball.
In fall 2022, Isaacson will be an assistant coach for University of Kentucky Women’s Volleyball. Two members of the current coaching staff, head coach Craig Skinner and associate head coach Anders Nelson, also graduated from Ball State. Skinner graduated in 1993 while Nelson graduated in 2011.
Skinner previously served as an assistant coach for the Ball State Men’s Volleyball team for two seasons and was a coach for the Munciana Volleyball Club. Nelson graduated summa cum laude and received his bachelor’s degree in financing and accounting. In 2018, Nelson earned his master’s degree in business administration from Kentucky.
“Next year, going to Kentucky, I hope to build a lot of experience, especially with that staff,” Isaacson said. “It’s been great because, obviously, coach Skinner and coach Nelson both are Ball State alumni, so it’s easy to connect with them.”
Although Isaacson is just starting his coaching career at Kentucky, he said he sees himself running his own collegiate volleyball program one day. He said he hopes to get a full-time job working in Division I and
Don’t be afraid to be yourself — that’s the best version of you.When you alter the way you play, the way you act, that is when you see decreases in your game — not even your game, just your relationship with coaches and teammates.”
- QUINN ISAACSON,
Men’s Volleyball graduate student setter
would love to coach girls’ volleyball for a long time, but his ultimate goal is to have it all come full circle and coach a collegiate men’s volleyball team.
“I really want to make my way back to guys’ volleyball,” Isaacson said. “I enjoy men’s volleyball.”
Isaacson believes college has prepared him for his future through accountability. He said he thinks respecting others and treating people how they would like to be treated will be crucial to his coaching career.
Once he receives his diploma, Isaacson said playing for the Cardinals and representing his school is what he will miss the most. Isaacson made an impact on the court, playing in 16 matches and recording a career-high 67 assists — earning All-MIVA Second Team honors in 2020.
“This is a very, very close group,” Isaacson said. “We’ve been close ever since I got here. It was a family-based team, which is what I came from and was part of why I chose to come here.”
As a final message to studentathletes, Isaacson emphasized the importance of being yourself.
“Don’t be afraid to be yourself — that’s the best version of you,” Isaacson said. “When you alter the way you play, the way you act, that is when you see decreases in your game — not even your game, just your relationship with coaches and teammates.”
Showing no fear when it comes to standing out was a similar idea Ball State Soccer graduate student midfielder/forward Melissa Diceman emphasized.
“Go out of your comfort zone,” Diceman said. “Do what makes you uncomfortable because it usually works out in your favor and just explore.”
In the 2020-21 season, Diceman started all 10 games and scored the second-most goals on the team with three. She also led the team with two game-winning goals. She finished her career with four goals and four assists, contributing 12 points.
After Diceman graduates, she has a few goals she would like to accomplish. Her plan is to get into the field of human resources, specifically banking, and she plans on moving back to her hometown of Toronto and work for the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). Human resource professionals oversee the hiring and training of new employees for a respective company, and the human resources representative is normally seen as the main link between the corporate office and the employees.
As she prepares to graduate, Diceman said she thinks she’ll miss the atmosphere of a college town and the proximity to her friends the most. While she said her college career has gone by quickly, she encourages underclassmen not to be afraid.
While each of these students have different stories and they participate in different sports, they all have one thing in common. Through planning for the future and putting themselves out there, these individual Ball State Cardinals have given themselves a starting point on the path to their future.
Contact Corbin Hubert with comments at cchubert@bsu.edu or on Twitter @corbin_hubert_.
LOOKING AHEAD
Melissa Diceman
Soccer Midfielder / Forward Graduate student
Future Plans:
Diceman hopes to get into human resources, specifically banking, when she graduates. She wants to move back to her hometown of Toronto and work for Royal Bank of Canada.
Ryan Short
Swimming and Diving Senior
Future Plans:
Short plans on pursuing corporate finance and, through networking and research, already has a job secured before graduating.
Quinn Isaacson
Men’s Volleyball Setter Graduate student
Future Plans:
Isaacson is set to be an assistant coach for University of Kentucky Women’s Volleyball. He hopes to be a head coach for a collegiate volleyball program one day.
BROTHERS FOR LIFE
Brandon Martin
Redshirt senior, inside linebacker
Cody Rudy
Redshirt fifth year, fullback
Elliot Charlebois
Redshirt senior, quarterback
Ball State Football seniors reflect on their brotherhood throughout their university careers.
Ian Hansen Sports Editor
“When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”
Ball State Football head coach Mike Neu’s father implemented this message in his son’s life at a young age, and it has been something Neu has worked to instill in the Cardinals since he began as head coach in 2016.
It’s a mantra that’s played true for the seniors who have been with the program for up to six seasons. The Cardinals went from 2-10 in 2017 to 7-1 in 2020, winning the Mid-American Conference Championship and the first bowl game in program history.
However, 2021 presented more adversity, as the Cardinals started the season with a 1-3 record and ended the season 6-6, missing the MAC Championship by two wins, but still getting a bowl bid. While the Cardinals weren’t able to run it back and win a second straight title, Neu got to coach his seniors one last time at Scheumann Stadium, and they went out with a 20-3 victory over Buffalo Nov. 23.
“All of the emotions you are going through — everybody is trying to play the game in their head,” Neu said. “You want everything to go the right way. Thinking about taking the field for the last time, thinking about standing with your family and it being emotional before kickoff, there is a lot that leads into it.”
Redshirt fifth-year quarterback Drew Plitt said the struggles presented lessons that will carry
through the rest of his life. He arrived at Ball State in 2016 and was at the forefront of the challenges Ball State faced early on in his career.
“There was a lot of adversity that hit this team,” Plitt said. “It wasn’t just on the field but off of the field. The guys got through it, and they can carry it through the rest of life. The things we went through, you will see every day in the rest of your life. For us to be able to carry it on is an opportunity.”
As the seniors went through many ups and downs, fifth-year senior safety Bryce Cosby said a lot of the adversity he went through in football will mirror what real life has to offer. Cosby said this season was a prime example and described how when Ball State started 1-3, losing to Penn State, Wyoming and Toledo, he had the same level-headed mindset as when
the Cardinals won three straight games right after.
“You have to take the good with the bad in this — that is with life, too,” Cosby said. “Not everything is going to be sunshine and rainbows. You can’t get too high or too low. I think the biggest thing is for us, veering away from the process, throwing in the towel — I learned that won’t do anything for us. The only way we will keep moving forward is to keep working.”
A lot of the reasons why the Cardinals stuck together through the losses were because of what Neu described as “toughness and hard work.” Neu said he stepped back at times and felt like a proud dad watching his team practice what he preaches.
“You watch your guys who you work so hard to instill doing things the right way, about handling business, going to class, doing things the right way,” Neu said. “Don’t cut corners — be relentless in your pursuit to be the best. To see those guys execute, carry it through and take the young players under their wings makes me proud. This is a special young group of guys who will have a chance to go and do special things in life.”
Having applied Neu’s philosophy on and off the field, redshirt fifth-year senior inside linebacker Jaylin Thomas said he has worked at trusting the process and has learned a lot about staying in the moment of any situation over his Ball State career.
“They taught me to have a blue-collar mentality — just try to take every day one-by-one,” Thomas said. “Everything you do, take it one step at a time. That is truly one thing this program instills in all of its players here. That is something I will take with me throughout my life.”
For Cosby, the relationships he developed with the rest of his teammates is something he said leaves him speechless.
“You rally around your guys,” Cosby said. “You tell each other you love each other. It kind of leaves you speechless. I am not sure it will hit me until it is all said and done but, in terms of how you handle it, you just have to cherish those relationships.” “There is going to be nothing like playing with this group of guys,” Plitt said. “The care we have for each other is tough to beat. Keeping these relationships is one of my biggest goals that I have here.
Contact Ian Hansen with comments at imhansen@bsu.edu or on Twitter @ianh_2.
HISTORIC FINISH HISTORIC FINISH
Ball State finished the season with 30 wins for the fourth time in program history. They won the Mid-American Conference Championship along with winning the first round of the NCAA Tournament against Michigan.
Freshman setter Megan Wielonski (15) celebrates as Ball State wins round one of the NCAA Division I Tournament against Michigan Dec. 3, at L&N Federal Credit Union Arena in Louisville, Kentucky. AMBER PIETZ, DN
Freshman setter Megan Wielonski (15, left) and sophomore middle blocker Lauren Gilliland (11, right) block a hit from Michigan in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at L&N Federal Credit Union Arena Dec. 3. JACY BRADLEY, DN
Ball State Women’s Volleyball celebrates its first NCAA Tournament win in 26 years against the University of Michigan at L&N Federal Credit Union Arena Dec. 3. Ball State lost to the University of Louisville Dec. 4 in the second round of the Junior middle blocker Marie Plitt, 5, hits the ball against Louisville Saturday, Dec. 4, at L&N Federal Credit Union Arena in Louisville, Kentucky. AMBER PIETZ, DN
