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News & Events

Caleb Melby '11 Recaps the Weekend's Events

Posted July 20, 2011

Caleb Melby '11 shares his thoughts on the most recent weekend of Steamboat activities.

"I don't care how you do it, just win."

Andy Walter's words couldn't have been clearer as Steamboat Scholars and Alumni prepared for a sumptous meal at Aureole, the luxurious setting for our first Foundation Dinner. 

His sentiments were preceded by similar notions shared by Charles Way, the dinner's official speaker. The former New York Giants halfback turned Director of Player Development encouraged us to work hard and make sacrifices to achieve our dreams. 

Most Scholars around that table would have sacrificed a goat if it meant achieving Andy's. 

Ever since Steamboat's founding, a Scholar has been placed at the Cold Spring Harbor Labs, the home of James Watson, the co-discoverer of DNA's double-helix structure. For the last three years, Steamboat Scholars have been making annual trips to the Long Island facility to tour the campus, meet Watson, and to get royally flogged in games of volleyball against the lab's interns. 

Steamboat has never won. 

This year's Cold Spring Harbor Scholar, Thomas "Tom" "Tommy" "TJ" "Teejh" "Clark Gable" Dowling '11, told us we could expect more of the same. Cold Spring's interns rarely got a break from poking mice and slicing RNA's, but when they did, they honed their v-ball skills. And just like every other year, we'd be walking onto the court without any experience as a team. 

Upon arriving at the labs, Teejh himself gave us a presentation on his work, which involved the following: DNA, RNA, Cancer, Noise, a robot called HITS-CLIP and occasionally Cleavage. Most of it went over this Scholars' head. But the fact that Teejh was in his element did not. 

Next came a lecture by simultaneously embattled and revered Dr. Watson himself. In a speech that ranged from human motivations to judiciary politics to the economy to the effects of skinniness on one's mental health, Watson inspired some of the 2011 Scholars' most lively conversations to date. 

And yet the question cannot be avoided: Was our rattling encounter with Watson designed to throw us off our game?

I joined the other Scholars on the field/pitch/court/rink (circle the best) late, due to some work for Forbes I needed to wrap up. I came just in time for the "competitive" games. 

I won't drag it out. We lost. Not badly though. I promise. But there were highlights. Jen Schildberg '11, a former v-ball player herself, helped us with the basics (For the record "How do I serve the ball?" is never an indication of a winning team). Teejh, our embedded spy for six weeks, divulged our rival's secrets. And Wei Zhou '11 proved that height alone does not a v-ball player make. His arms were like mortar launchers. It was exhilarating to cheer for each other and sweat together, like we did at the ropes course. 

That night, we retreated to Teejh's home to lick our wounds and our plates. His family has a stunning grasp on the art of barbecue. I sacrificed two plates in honor of the memory of Andy's dream that night. 

The weekend did not end there. We returned to the city for a Cajun brunch with Alumni then trekked out to Citi Field to witness the Mets demolish the Phillies, much to the chagrin of those unabashed Phillies fans in attendance, who are, for the record, '08 Alumni Amanda Ingle and Alicia Jones. 

Steamboat Foundation was thrilled to have fifteen different Alumni, representing every year of the program from 2004 to 2010, participate in the weekend's various events along with the 2011 Scholars. 

Click here to view photos from the Mets game and CSHL trip.

Click here to view photos from the Charles Way Foundation Dinner.