In the Jungle; Ryan Dodd

Thank you for joining us for In The Jungle, where you stay connected to the current students at Pittsburgh State University. Now, here's your host, Howard Smith. Welcome to In The Jungle, where we meet the gorillas of Pittsburgh State University. I'm your host, Howard Smith, and today we are joined by Ryan Dodd. Right? Yes, sir. All right. Ryan, where are you from? I'm from Lee Summit, Missouri. Lee Summit, Missouri. Tell me a little bit about Lee Summit. Let's see. Over Kansas City, got about 100,000 people. Yeah, it's pretty grown community and pretty thriving right now, and I like a lot there. Did you have any adjustments coming from Lee Summit to Pittsburgh? Not really. I mean, definitely, there was a lot less commute and a lot less businesses than I'm used to, like Chipotle and getting a bunch of Keto's quick trip, but I'm pretty familiar with this area, though. So I mean, I liked the area a lot and how close everything is. So where do you go, then? Now, you can't go Chipotle. What's your place? Is that your line? One of my favorites. I like to go to Smokey Racks. Really?

The barbecue joint. Yeah. I know where it's at. Yeah. That's really good. What do you like from Smokey Racks? I like to get loaded, but I also like to get some nachos, too. It's hard to go wrong with that deal they got going on. I think Thursdays. Yeah. Yeah. So tell me a little bit about what are you majoring in and why? I am majoring in marketing. Well, I got my undergraduate in marketing, and I got my BBA, the emphasis in marketing. And I really kind of been drawn to it. I really like working with brands and working about getting their message out. And someday, I hope to work for some place where I can help communicate what all they like and how they can reach all a bunch of different people. Well, that's cool. So you're looking at demographics and kind of people that like that particular brand and what they might be doing and then a lot of different things, actually. Yeah. So was there something that stimulated your interest in that area? I had a couple of classes in high school that kind of drew my attention to it to subject itself. And then I kind of... What were those? Those classes? Uh, just general marketing classes in high school. But business.

Just kind of stimulated. Yeah. I kind of introduced me to that idea and now I just started with a couple of classes here as a freshman and then kind of decided that's what would be interesting to me and what I like to do. Cool. Well, cool. Do you have any instructors that kind of inspired you in that area or anything? Definitely. Mary, she's played a big role in drawing my attention to and giving me active with everything going on in the KELSE. So where did you go to high school then? I know you're from Lisa Muppet, but there's more than one high school. Yeah. The Lisa Muppet High School. Lisa Muppet High School. The Tigers. The Tigers. I know you're not only here for academics. What else have you been involved with and what's the big thing? Well, I'm definitely a football player here at the university. I kind of recognize that. What's that been like playing football and going to school? I mean, it's been awesome, really. I can't think of any complaints that I've had. I love doing both and football is definitely, you know, elevate my college experience. You have to work a lot at that, though, don't you? It's kind of like a job, I think. Yeah, it really is. A lot of hours during the week and definitely, well, I think whenever we get a play on Saturdays, I think that makes kind of everything kind of come together and worth it, you know.

What is it like to be a football player in the walk? In the walk. It's a pretty special feeling. You get to see all your fans and all your family and all the community support you and you know that they're behind you. It's also kind of a gateway for us as well. We get all that support going and then we're going to walking into the field and that's where we kind of flip the switch to getting to game mode and get serious. People talk about having a game face. Is that that game mode? Yeah, you could say so. I mean, you're going to be smiling during the walk and while you're saying hi to everybody and hi-five and everybody. You get to see a adrenaline going? It does, yeah. You get to see adrenaline going. In the stadium, what's it like to hear all, I mean, all those fans up with football? We have a lot of full houses, so. Yeah. It's pretty awesome. It's really not a lot of other feelings I can think of that are like it than having thousands of people cheer you on and be looking at you too. Now, tell me about your position. I am a offensive tackle and charge with protecting the quarterback and making gaps.

Okay. Yeah, that's what you work on all the time. All the time. Now, you're working on your MBA, so you've been here as an undergrad too. Yes. You've been in the football program for a while then. Yeah. My first semester here was fall of 2015, so I'm coming up on year five this fall. Right. But that's, and it has been a good decision to come to pit state for you. Best decision. Best decision. Really good decision. Now, talking earlier, your parents went to school here too, didn't they? Yeah. What about your parents? And where they're from, even? So my mom, she grew up in Columbus, just south of here. And my dad, he grew up in Overland Park, and they both decided to come here. And it's funny, I'm a football player, obviously, but whenever with my parents were here in college, my mom, she was a basketball player. And my dad, he was on the cheer team, so he was a yell leader. So he'd be cheering her on at all.

Her games. That's pretty cool. That's a great high school, I understand. That's what I've heard. What was that high school? Shiny Mission West. Oh, yeah. Wonderful. We get a lot of good students from there as well, and your mom from Columbus, so that's pretty cool. You know, there's always been kind of us out these Kansas and Kansas City connections, so you're a perfect example of that. So, so what do you want to do when you get your, what do you get your degree? What do you, you know, what do you want to work like, company wise or location? Or even location. I mean, both. Yeah, both. I like the Kansas City area, so I'll probably migrate over there whenever I'm down with getting my degree and everything here. So have you had a chance to be out in the field doing any work yet? Is it like an intern or anything? I'm looking for an opportunity this summer for an internship still. But I've stayed here the past four summers, so I can be close to the team and do all our workouts in the summer. I'll be ready for the fall. Has there been any surprises about going to college for you? I mean, football wise, obviously. I think.

It's not different than high school. It's a pace faster. Pace faster, gameplay, everything. Yeah. Academically, I mean, it depends on what your habits were in high school. I mean, if you have good studios, habits in high school, then you could use those. So, I think it is a good thing to get started on that. It's what the old adage practice makes perfect and, so even practicing studying or getting in the habit routine of that makes an impact on your, on your college career. I'm lucky my parents did that for me in high school. So those skills have kind of translated pretty well for me here. It's a shout out to your parents when they hear this. Yeah. That's a good thing. That's a good thing. Hey, you know, if I were talking to a student right now about why they ought to consider coming to Pitt State, what would you say to somebody, just say, this is why you should think about Pitt State? It's a really special community that you won't get at a lot of colleges. Very few have what Pitt State has. Hey, that proves why you belong at Pittsburgh State University. Ryan, thanks for joining us in the jungle. Thank you. I'm your host, Howard Smith.

Have a good day. Join us for in the jungle. Wednesday afternoons at 350 and Friday mornings at 850, here on KRPS.