The Freshmen Experience: Ian Morales
Men’s Wrestling Team
Major:
Hometown:
Exeter, Calif.
Where are you from and what brought you to Marymount?
I’m from a small town in Central California and I’ve been wrestling all my life. When it came time to look at colleges, I wanted to find a city with lots of opportunities and a school that would put me on top and set me up for success. What drew me to Marymount was the emphasis on internships and career preparation. When I came and visited, I fell in love with Washington D.C., and when I found out Marymount had a wrestling program, I was sold.
What was your Marymount experience like this first year?
It was awesome! I’ve loved meeting so many new people and exploring the area, because I’m not from here and everything is so new to me. Being on the wrestling team has been amazing—we did really well this year, and I’m looking forward to next season already. It has been hard to be so far away from home and have to live on my own for the first time, but the Marymount community has made it much easier to find friends and have fun.
How has being a student-athlete added to your experience?
I love wrestling, so getting to compete at the collegiate level is awesome. Coming in and not knowing anyone, my team has really been a safety net for me. We had about 15 rookies on the team this year, so I knew I had other people that were going through the same thing. My teammates were my first friends here and they made the transition much easier because I had a community behind me. I’m really looking forward to meeting the new rookies next year and continuing to become a better wrestler.
What are you looking forward to over the next few years at Marymount?
I’m really excited about getting to start an internship and working in the real world. I’m strongly interested in criminal psychology and I’ve always thought about going into law enforcement. So I’m hoping the relationships I form at Marymount and the closeness to D.C. can connect me with a great internship in the psychology field. I’m also looking forward to getting more involved on campus. This year, I just stuck to wrestling and was getting the hang of my classes and living on my own. Next year, I hope to branch out and meet lots of new people and explore everything there is to do on campus.
What is your advice to students starting their first year?
Go and try everything you can. Whether it’s a sport or going to new events, or even just going for a walk and exploring the area around campus, just try everything because you never know what you might find.
