Despite already having a job lined up after graduation, senior lacrosse player Paul Paschke shows no signs of slowing down. On senior day against DePauw, Paschke scored his first goal of the season to end his Yeomen home career in style. But it's his work off the field that has set him up for success going into the future.
 
An economics major with a mathematics concentration and minor, Paschke will begin work at Epic Systems after graduation this May. Epic is a medical software company based in Madison, Wisconsin.
 
"They like to hire young professionals from liberal arts colleges to work with their software. I'll be working in development and then helping to implement and train employees at different hospitals how to use the software effectively."
 
Paschke spent the 2012 winter term interning in St. Paul, Minn. with Oberlin alumna Judge Susan Richard Nelson ('74).  According to Paschke, she offers a judicial internship every winter term to an Oberlin undergrad who is interested in law. During his time, Paschke worked on the factual background of a specific court case while also observing various proceedings in the court.
 
"At the time, I thought I wanted to go to law school immediately after graduation. But then this opportunity at Epic Systems came up and it's a good job so I couldn't turn it down. Law school may still be in my future, but for now it's on the back burner."
 
As a member of the Oberlin Student Senate this year, Paschke was elected the Green Liaison, which requires him to be involved with a lot of different sustainability groups on campus and to be a voting member of the Green EDGE Fund.
 
"I've been involved with a lot of small and large projects involving sustainability on campus. I was elected near the end of the project to put solar panels on the roof of Kahn Hall and I've been working on things for the Carbon Management Fund and some of the projects that will start taking place in the near future."
 
Paschke saw being involved with the student senate as an opportunity to gain good experience as well as a way to be more involved on campus. It exposed him to a side of campus he claims he hadn't seen in his previous three years.
 
Last summer, Paschke was in New York City interning for MIAC Analytics, a company that makes financial software to analyze mortgage-backed securities. The father of Paschke's teammates Chris and Mac Husted founded the company.
 
"The work I did at MIAC is very similar to what I'll be doing at Epic. I learned as much as I could about the software in a short amount of time, then helped with support for clients."
 
In addition to serving as a co-captain on the lacrosse team this year, Paschke has been involved with the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. When he came to school his first year, Paschke felt there was a few things the athlete department could do better.
 
"It was that I didn't fully understand how college athletics work and why certain things were against NCAA rules. Joining SAAC was a way for me to voice some of my concerns and get answers."
 
Since joining SAAC, Paschke has come to appreciate and enjoy the community service opportunities it provides and decided to get more involved and continue with it to this day.
 
For Yeomen senior lacrosse captain Paul Paschke, it's evident that no matter what path life takes him down, he will give it 100 percent and be very successful.

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