三连冠

After graduating high school, 特里种植, CAS '89 and SHS '93, had a tough decision to make. 

“I joined the Army,” explains 种植. “I didn’t really want to, but I needed the money so that I could get into college.” After two years in the military, 种植 returned home with his Veteran Affairs benefits and just one college on his mind: 韦德体育app官网.

“I didn’t really look anywhere else,迪布尔说。. “It was close, just 20 minutes down the road and seemed to be the right spot for me.”

种植 arrived at OU in 1976. He ran on OU’s cross country team in ’78 and ’79 and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in public administration with a concentration in health behavioral sciences in 1980, thoroughly enjoying every second on campus. “It was a great learning experience,迪布尔说。.

种植 returned to campus to earn his master’s degree in exercise science in 1993 and taught a class as a graduate assistant. In his years away from 奥克兰, 种植 worked as an exercise physiologist at a spinal rehabilitation center and later on at an adult living community running exercise programs, but didn’t feel like he was reaching his full potential.

“I really liked doing what I was doing,迪布尔说。, “but I 虽然t there had to be more. I sat down and 虽然t about what skills I have and teaching people was at the core of what I did. Working in rehab and with the older community it really was just teaching people how to do things.”

In 2001, while 种植 was going through this self-reflection, he was offered a position to teach at OU, responsible for teaching the first half of HS 201 Introduction to Health and Health Behaviors, which is now HS 2000. In what seemed like overnight, 虽然, he went from instructing a patient one-on-one course to having over 200 students in a lecture hall.

“To see the students progress through the process, from freshman to graduation, it’s incredibly rewarding,迪布尔说。. “They have taught me so much, they all have different perspectives and understandings on topics and classroom exercises, they keep making me better. I enjoy being in the room and being able to help students.”

种植, now a special instructor and the coordinator of internships for the exercise science program, is always looking for ways to improve himself as an educator and has even returned to the classroom as a student. He is currently working on a thesis to earn his master’s in psychology. He has shown no signs of stopping anytime soon. 

“I’m probably never going to retire. They’ll have to carry me off of campus.”

种植 is also a member of the 韦德体育app官网 校友会 董事会.