Famous faces influencing students

By Gretchen Settle

Everybody knows somebody, and some Frostburg students have met some very interesting people. Among the students at FSU, the students who gave me an interview all had one thing in common, all were athletes and all had met a famous athlete that had influenced them positively.
Montez Johnson, a freshman at FSU majoring in elementary education from Baltimore talked about how he had met Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens, “We went to a football camp, and he was like a guest speaker”. Montez played on his high school football team and was lucky to have the experience because the high schools had sent their linebackers to the camp. “ Montez was surprised because, “he was way bigger than I thought he was gunna be” .He asked the famous Ravens player about the NFL and what it was like to play on the team and be so well known. Montez stated that, “It was a pretty good experience, he was talking about how he became a linebacker and it influenced me to do better.”
Darius Arrington, of FSU’s varsity football team had his own special experience with a famous face. Darius a freshman majoring in law and society with a focus in criminal justice was able to meet Dwain Wade, a starting shooting guard for the Miami Heat. Darius says, “It was funny because we were on vacation and he was in the same hotel I was in” Darius laughed a bit recalling the coincidence, “we ended up in the elevator together and I was like, ‘It’s Dwain Wade!’ and I wanted to ask for an autograph, but didn’t because he was with his family and I didn’t want to intervene.” Darius spoke about how he did get to talk with Dwain a little, letting him know he was a fan, but still being respectful of the player’s privacy and home life.
Another freshman at FSU named Dominique Young, a Computer Science major and a basketball player for the intramural basketball team had the pleasure of meeting Gilbert Arenas from the Orlando Magics. He had acquired tickets to the game when Gilbert was playing with the Wizards when Dominique was 17. When he was able to meet the man he was excited because he was a “Big Fan” and was able to autograph. Dominique said that with the experience it, “gave me inspiration”.