Tyler Walsh

Introducing this week’s Campus Celebrity, Tyler Walsh! Name sound familiar? He was recently named Mr. UNH! Keep reading to find out more about Tyler’s hobbies and more, including how he came up with his one of a kind talent he performed at Mr. UNH!

Name: Tyler Walsh

Year: Senior

Major: Accounting & Finance

Involvements on Campus: Captain of UNH Golf Team, Atkins Investment Group, Dean’s Ambassador for the Business School.

First off, congrats on becoming Mr. UNH 2014!  What made you want to enter the competition?

Thank you! I actually didn’t hear about it until the week before the event – I feel fortunate that I was invited to participate and help out. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to help with an event for a great cause – Make-A-Wish. Stage fright usually gets the best of me but sometimes you just have to go for it!

So you entered as “Mr. Business”. We take it you’re a very smart guy. Tell us about your interest in business and any other groups or activities you are involved with here at UNH.

Watching the news and learning about what’s happening in the US and around the world has always been interesting to me. Never being much of a math guy, I think I was real interested in being able to interact with people and discussing/presenting ideas to groups.

The golf team has been a huge part of my time at UNH. The team has been great in the past year; we had the chance to travel to Georgia and Indiana to compete for a national championship last year and we hope to compete for the championship this fall in Myrtle Beach, SC! I know it is definitely boring to watch on TV (I fall asleep when I watch it sometimes too), but the sport has introduced me to so many people that have had a positive influence on my life and I look up to them as role models for who I strive to be someday. 

For your talent you tossed footballs into hula-hoops your friends held while simultaneously running throughout the auditorium. Each time you tossed one through the hoop, you agreed to donate to the Make-A-Wish Foundation! The audience absolutely loved it. What made you come up with this out of the box idea?

I was going back and forth thinking of what to do for a talent the whole week, I was so nervous. There wasn’t much of a plan going into it; I definitely wanted to find a way to get Make-A-Wish and the audience involved but I couldn’t think of any ideas. I was running through the aisles of Wal-Mart that afternoon trying to find anything, and I got some pretty funny looks when people saw me walking out of the store with hula hoops and foam footballs. My friends Brandon Ossinger and Mike Marinelli offered to hold the hoops so I can’t thank them enough – I think I made them sweat a little bit running around the room (sorry guys). I’ve never really had the best hand-eye coordination, but I was hoping it’d give everyone a laugh or two. There were definitely some people in the audience who got hit in the face on a few of those tosses, sorry about that!

Besides hula hooping and football, what are some of your other hobbies?

Hula hooping is definitely a favorite (kidding – I think I need a little more practice). I spent a lot of time at a golf course in high school – any chance I get to play or practice I take it. I was  fortunate to be named captain of the UNH Golf team a few years ago and I love traveling with the team and representing UNH. My parents put me on skis when I was 2 years old and I’ve never stopped since, I love getting a chance to ski with family or friends whenever I can.

Why don’t you share with us a fun fact not many people know about you!

I had surgery when I was younger on my eyes but it caused me to lose most of my depth perception. I’ve never had the best hand-eye coordination so I usually drop most of the things people throw at me.

What do you plan on accomplishing this year as the official Mr. UNH?

If there is anything I can do to help with the Make-A-Wish foundation I’d love to help in any way I can!

Where do you see yourself, say ten years from now?

I’d love to be working in a city (Boston or New York), but NH is always home for me. If I can do anything related to golf that would be awesome too  – it would be awesome to be down south for warmer weather!