If you have ever been to the gym on campus I’m sure you have run into this weeks campus celeb, Blaide Woodburn! He is really smart, super involved, and totally jacked (haha). His friends would describe him as dedicated, hard-working, respectable, and a bit addicted to the gym. Blaide is majoring in Molecular Biology with minors in Chemistry, Business, and Leadership Studies. He will continue on to graduate school after Eckerd in order to obtain a Ph.D. in Bioenergetics. With this, he hopes to enter into the pharmaceutical or sports supplement field where he will be able to create supplements that will account for genetic predispositions, metabolic disorders, and epigenetic factors. His favorite part about Eckerd is the community! The relationships built here, with fellow students and professors, will be life-long. It is no wonder why Eckerd changes lives!
Blaide has two huge leadership roles on campus including being the RA of Alpha Gershwin and the Director of Eckerd’s Emerging Leaders. Aside from those big leadership roles he still manages to find time to be on the rugby team and work at the Fitness Center! All of these activities do not seem to affect his grades because he has recently been awarded the position of one of twenty Ford Scholars! (congrats!) Blaide says that although an RA is sometimes perceived as the “rule enforcer,” it is much more than that. An RA must do all in his or her power to ensure that each resident is exposed to an environment ideal for thriving academically, socially, and emotionally. He would say the most important responsibility of an RA is to develop strong relationships and build community. On the other hand, his responsibility as director of EEL is to help empower motivated freshman to step into leadership roles on and off campus. Therefore, Blaide is an excellent role model to many of the students on campus!
The Rugby team at Eckerd is a very popular and most games are filled with Eckerd students showing some school pride! Blaide has been playing rugby for 2 years now. He played football in high school, and his favorite part about being on the team, aside from it being a great time, is the camaraderie and brotherhood. Consequently, he says that he is most looking forward to playing Rugby again in the fall and for a new set of classes! This summer, Blaide’s most promising endeavor looks to be a research internship at the Baylor College of Medicine but he still has a few more applications to fill out. Overall, Blaide is an awesome student and member of the Eckerd Community!