Dan Williams/Collegian
Senior chemistry major Ben Bixenmann takes a moment before basketball practice.
Towering at 6 feet 4 inches tall, senior small forward Ben Bixenmann dominates on the basketball court as well as in his studies.
Recruited by Coach Ed Douma to play for the Hillsdale basketball team, Bixenmann arrived at the small Midwestern campus from a private school in Nebraska.
“I came to Hillsdale on the Nebraska Grewcock scholarship and by being recruited for the basketball team they offered a scholarship to pay my room and board fees,” Bixenmann said.
Douma boasts that Ben “defends well, is a physical-type player, and does the little things to win games.”
But there's more to Bixenmann han his stellar atheltic ability. With all collegiate costs covered, Bixenmann met and exceeded the academic standards necessary to receive Hillsdale scholarships.
Receiving academic all-conference honors after his 2003-04 season, Bixenmenn hopes he'll be awarded this title again after his 2004-05 season.
With a rigorous academic load as a chemistry major, Bixenmann said it's tough balancing sports and studies.
“It's been hard keeping up studying especially because I'm pre-med. I do a lot of studying on the bus and in hotel rooms when the team travels. I've had to move my schedule around with my labs, and always have to communicate with my professors,” Bixenmann said.
“It's obvious that Ben has a superlative work ethic—he's very driven and goal-oriented on and off the court,” Douma said. “Ben leads by example, he's a quiet, confident leader.”
In addition to his outstanding academic record, Ben is an active member in honoraries such as Beta Beta Beta, Sigma Zeta, and Kappa Mu Epsilon. He is president and a member of the American Chemical Society and is part of the Student Athletic Advisory Committee.
Despite all the work that goes into juggling basketball, academics, and other activities, being a part of the team has been rewarding for Bixenmann.
“It's given me opportunities to do things that I would not have gotten to do if I hadn't played. I've gotten to know my teammates well, I've been able to travel around this region and have gone to Europe with the team,” he said.
Ben added that he is proud of the ability that this group of players has to work together to compete. “I've enjoyed how the team is molded out of different individuals who are striving towards the same goal.”
After graduation Ben is planning to attend medical school and his list of prospective schools is impressive. So far, Ben has been accepted to the University of Nebraska and the University of Miami, Fla., with many more to come.
Bixenmann's future in the medical field looks bright. For the past two summers Ben submerged himself in a medical setting to prepare himself for a career in medicine.
In his experiences, Ben worked in a nuclear lab and performed nuclear cardiograph scans and also shadowed a trauma team for a week and a half.
In the lab Ben said “there was a lot of patient contact and observation.” In helping the trauma team Ben carried a pager and was on-call to help in trauma situations, and also did other hands-on work.
He incorporates all his past experiences in his interviews, and has drawn on them to figure out what he wants to specialize in.
“I was told you aren't supposed to decide what field you want to be in before you get to medical school. Right now, though, I'm interested in orthopedic surgery because I've played sports all my life and have been exposed to orthopedics,” Bixenmann said.
He said he is also considering cardiology after his experience at the cardiology clinic, but he's not making any definite decisions yet.
“You never know what you'll encounter when you get there, or what new thing might spark your interest,” he said.
In the eyes of Coach Douma, “Ben sets the bar high and just shoots for it. He wants success and is not afraid to spend a lot of time to achieve it.”