Feb. 25, 2016
By Miranda Kulp, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Being a Division I student-athlete is no easy task. A person has to be dedicated to their sport while making time to maintain their personal grades in the classroom on top of trying to make the most of their limited college career. However, redshirt-freshman Noah Roberson of Penn State men's gymnastic is succeeding in all aspects of being a Division I student-athlete.
The Williamsville, N.Y. native is accomplishing his goals both in the gym and in the classroom. In addition to competing for the Blue and White he also is a biomedical engineer major and a member of Schreyer Honors College with a 4.0 GPA.
"Noah is a very dedicated person in all aspects of his life," said Head Coach Randy Jepson. "He's extremely hard working and even though he redshirted his first year he's made an incredible amount of progress already."
"I have a lot of respect for him as a person. It's not everyday you come across a person who is just that dedicated to both their sport and their academics," Jepson continued.
Roberson has become a solid competitor for the Nittany Lions. Currently he competes on the still rings with a career high of 14.700.
"Noah is just a bright kid, you tell him something he understands and does the work he needs to get done to improve," said coach Jepson.
Roberson is making the most of his time in Happy Valley and explains that the university's academic reputation combined with athletics is what attracted him to Penn State.
"My whole life my family taught me how important hard work is," said Roberson. "I think it's really important to be both a good athlete and a good student."
Currently Roberson is focusing on prosthetics and is beginning to do research with the kinesiology department to help develop his honors thesis. To compliment his biomedical degree, he also wants to achieve a second degree in mechanical engineering.
After college, Roberson wants to get his masters within five years.
"It's been a great experience being on the team, being on a strict schedule really motivates me to make sure I get all my school work done on time.
Coming from a family of engineers and physical therapist, Roberson has always had big dreams for his future.
"I've learned that you need to set priorities to get everything done. I always try and get to bed on time since I don't want to be too tired for practice and can focus while studying," said Roberson.
Roberson credits his family and teammates for always motivating him to keep up the hard work ethics.
He also explains how his siblings are how he got started in gymnastics when he was a young boy.
"My brother and I were doing karate and got bored of that so decided to join my sister in gymnastics when I was a kid," said Roberson. "Eventually I realized how much I loved the sport and the coach saw a lot of potential in me and it just kind of went off from there."
Today, Roberson is continuing to prove that his work ethic is going to take him far in both gymnastics and his engineering career.
Up next for the Lions is an away meet at Iowa on Saturday, February 27 at 2 p.m.