Dal­ton majors in busi­ness teach­ing, and in five years, he sees him­self teach­ing busi­ness some­where in the Mid­west while coach­ing mul­ti­ple sports and mak­ing an impact in his com­mu­ni­ty. Scroll for more about Dalton!

What oppor­tu­ni­ties or expe­ri­ences have you been able to take part in that you might not have been able to with­out the scholarship?

At the Uni­ver­si­ty of North­ern Iowa, I have been able to con­nect with some fel­low Bright Schol­ars, and we sought a way of pay­ing for­ward the gen­eros­i­ty the Bright Foun­da­tion has shown us. So, we teamed up with UNI and Bright Foun­da­tion staff and spon­sored a fam­i­ly in need for Christ­mas. It was a great way of giv­ing back, vol­un­teer­ing our time, and bright­en­ing the family’s hol­i­day season. 

The schol­ar­ship has also allowed me free time to help local schools by offi­ci­at­ing sports. There is a large offi­cial short­age in Iowa, so I try to take a game every night I can to help schools in a pinch. Also, being a teach­ing major, it’s a great way to net­work with oth­er teach­ers and admin­is­tra­tors in the area.

What has been your biggest chal­lenge since start­ing college?

My biggest chal­lenge has been with time man­age­ment and pri­or­i­ti­za­tion. As a fresh­man, it can be over­whelm­ing to man­age new class­es, orga­ni­za­tions, friends, etc. It’s real­ly impor­tant to learn how to man­age your time and pri­or­i­tize the things that make you the hap­pi­est and most effi­cient. I have come a long way on these skills, but it’s always a learn­ing curve as I encounter new situations. 

Where do you see your­self in five years? 10 years?

In five years, I see myself teach­ing high school busi­ness some­where in the Mid­west while coach­ing mul­ti­ple sports (bas­ket­ball, vol­ley­ball, track) and mak­ing an impact in my com­mu­ni­ty. In 10 years, I hope to still be teach­ing, coach­ing, and vol­un­teer­ing. I hope to also be mar­ried and poten­tial­ly start­ing a fam­i­ly in my long-term school district. 

  What cam­pus activ­i­ties do you like to par­tic­i­pate in?

I play on the UNI Men’s Club Vol­ley­ball team, and it has been an amaz­ing expe­ri­ence. We have com­pet­ed in sev­er­al tour­na­ments, and I have made new friends along the way.