Andrew Luck - Architectural Design, Class of 2012
Andrew Luck has been catapulted to the national stage of college football due to his tremendous skill on the field. He has led the Stanford Cardinal to an impressive 11-1 record, the first time in the university’s history. The Stanford Cardinal is ranked fourth in the BCS standings and has been invited to play Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl on Jan 3. Luck is a Heisman Trophy finalist and just the fourth quarterback in Stanford history to throw for over 3,000 yards in a single season. Luck also happens to be a Stanford Engineering major.
Andrew Luck has been catapulted to the national stage of college football due to his tremendous skill on the field. He has led the Stanford Cardinal to an impressive 11-1 record, the first time in the university's history. The Stanford Cardinal is ranked fourth in the BCS standings and has been invited to play Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl on Jan 3. Luck is a Heisman Trophy finalist and just the fourth quarterback in Stanford history to throw for over 3,000 yards in a single season. Luck also happens to be a Stanford Engineering major. He took time out of his very busy schedule to answer a few questions.
Tell us about your major and why you chose it.
Architectural Design, and I chose it because of my longtime interest in buildings, both their aesthetic value and structure.
What have been some of your favorite classes and faculty and why?
So far, I really enjoyed taking CEE31, a drafting introsem, with John Barton. He is a very knowledgeable and encouraging professor and we all learned valuable lessons in his class.
You have an incredible ability to scan the entire football field and identify open receivers while avoiding being sacked. Many say you have laser focus. How does being an engineer help you on the field?
I think the idea of angles, space, and processing information helps immensely on the field. I believe the first two ideas mentioned come from having a decent engineering background and are definitely honed in engineering classes.
How do you juggle the demands of an engineering major with being an athlete? What's your biggest challenge?
I would say the biggest challenge is time management. It is very easy to get overwhelmed with course-load and football, so all of the athletes on campus must be very proactive in their studying and school work as not to fall behind. That being said, all of my professors have been very accommodating when issues regarding athletics arose and I have improved my study habits as the years have passed.
Toby Gerhart (Stanford alum currently playing for the Minnesota Vikings) was also an engineering major. Did you get any advice from him or from fellow engineering major teammates about managing it all? How does your team and coaches support student-athletes?
Toby was definitely an inspiration to go into engineering, and I learned about what kind of focus was needed to be successful in the classroom and on the field from him. Our coaches do a great job of supporting our scholastic endeavors and are very in tune to how we are doing in the class room.
Where's your favorite place to study?
My living room.
How do you plan to spend the holidays?
Practicing for a bowl game.
What bowl game have you always dreamed of playing in?
In the National Championship, or Rose Bowl. But Orange is pretty sweet. Get more information about Stanford in the Orange Bowl. Get more details about Luck and the Heisman Trophy ceremonies.
