Perspective

Passing It On
Senior Shares Own Witt Experience

Play like a champion today.” These are the famous words that hang in the Notre Dame football locker room and the motto that inspires champions everywhere. During my time at Wittenberg University, these words have inspired me to continually improve, but they also represent much more than being a champion in the biology lab, the Student Senate office or the fraternity chapter room. These words represent the excellence and drive that people need to become the very best that they can be. About a week ago when I sat down to put pen to paper, I realized that Wittenberg has been setting the stage for me to play like a champion – not only in academics, but also in life.

The best way to describe my Witt experience is through the people who have made it so special. Encouraging students to reach their potential, to never give up and to, one day, pass it on are the constant challenges from the professors at Wittenberg. Our teachers have not only pushed me to reach my best, but they have genuinely cared about me and every one of my classmates. Challenges are not an option at Wittenberg; they are the rule for all of us. On tours I always tell prospective students, “Don’t come here if you just want to get by because this faculty will not accept mediocrity. They will make you your very best.”

Whether I was traveling to the Bahamas with Dr. Lewis, interpreting research results with Dr. Yoder or talking politics with Dr. Hudson, I have been constantly impressed with our faculty. These educators, these teachers, are my inspiration, my role models and, most importantly, my friends.

For more than 160 years, the students of Wittenberg have been blessed with an outstanding faculty, and it is not just the current students who appreciate their gifts. I am consistently amazed by the number of alumni who continually walk the hallowed halls and walk into classrooms with huge grins and big hugs just to see their former teachers. I was asked to tell you what it means to be Distinctively Wittenberg. Well come at 6:30 a.m., and…oh…by the way…come back at 8 or even 10 p.m. and see all of the faculty office doors still open. It’s obviously not for the money that they work so hard here.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. declared, “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep the streets so that all of heaven and earth would pause to say HERE lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.” The champions of Wittenberg University do their jobs well – whether working, assisting or playing. From our lunch lady Anne to our president, every teacher and every student live and breathe this institution. Witt expects you to work very hard indeed. Why? Because you can. Each of us is called to make this world a better place. The people here have made
this world a better place by making a difference in the mind and heart of this student, and that is their success. I, like all of you, will one day pass on the light, legacy and the example that I have so generously been given, and it is my prayer that someday my own children will be involved in a community that is as demanding, dedicated and caring as the one I have experienced here.

On my visit day, I asked a former student, “What defines Wittenberg; what makes it so distinctive?” He simply stated that “Wittenberg has served as the cornerstone in my development.” After hearing these words, I understood that Witt has instilled in me the values of perseverance, conviction, integrity, leadership, tradition and faith. It is my cornerstone, too. In college we are all faced with many challenges. We must find who we are, who we want to be and what we are best at doing. Wittenberg has helped me find my own identity. It has embraced and empowered me to succeed. It has embraced and empowered all of you to succeed. It will embrace and empower all who enter its gates to play like a champion today. Pass it on!

– Zachary D. Bozic ’08

These words were shared by Bozic at the
annual Alumni Chapter Event at the
Sarasota Yacht Club in March.