Carl Appleton ’17 Wins National Student-Athlete Award
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Lewis & Clark senior Carl “C.J.” Appleton has been named one of only five recipients of the national Wilma Rudolph Student-Athlete Achievement Award. He will be recognized at the N4A Convention Awards Luncheon on June 11 in Dallas, Texas.
Granted by the National Association of Academic Advisors for Athletics, a nonprofit organization which provides financial and academic support to student-athletes who might not otherwise be recognized, the award celebrates student-athletes who have faced overwhelming odds to succeed academically, athletically, and personally.
Appleton had always dreamed of playing college football. A gifted football player at Portland’s Central Catholic High School, C.J.’s pursuit of athletic excellence was put on hold when he dropped out of college after a difficult freshman year. In fall 2014, at the age of 30, he transferred to Lewis & Clark. C.J. played tight end on the college’s football team and starting forward on the men’s basketball team. His success hasn’t been limited to the field: he juggles two jobs while earning a 3.54 GPA in his major, Sociology/Anthropology.
C.J. plans to graduate in 2017 and pursue a degree in counseling from Lewis & Clark’s Graduate School of Education and Counseling, so that he can help young adults overcome addiction and realize their own potential to succeed.
“I got my life together at 27, and I keep thinking where I would be today if I’d seen that light a little earlier,” Appleton said in a recent interview in Lewis & Clark’s Chronicle magazine. “If I could be in a position to help somebody else so they don’t have to lose those years in their 20s, that would be huge.”
Information for Transfer Students
Emily Price ’18 contributed to this story.
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