Three Questions for...

Ryan Wolf, ’19, is from Hampton Township, right outside of Pittsburgh. 

How would you describe what Exercise Science is to someone who has never heard of it, and how did you get into it?

At the basic level, it’s figuring out how the body works, and then how it adapts when you put it through stressful conditions such as exercise. For coursework, we take biology 1 and 2; chemistry 1 and 2; anatomy and physiology; and then exercise physiology 1 and 2.

I was a basketball player in high school—I played point guard for Ascension Academy in Hampton Township. I came to Chatham to play basketball, but I only ended up playing for a year because I got injured. So then I got into lifting weights, and my interest just took off from there.

What was your internship?  

I interned with the Pittsburgh Penguins youth elite teams at the new UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry. I was working with 6-year-olds through 19-year-olds who play other youth in this specialized youth pro league. It’s pretty cool to be, say, 12 years old, and going to Phoenix, Arizona to play hockey! I was considered a sports performance coach, and had some individual clients as well.

Before that, I did an internship at Club Julian on McKnight Road, helping people who came in wanting to lose weight or put on muscle, so I didn’t need to do another internship, but I couldn’t resist the opportunity to put the Penguins on my resume!

What do you hope to do after graduation?  

I definitely want to stay in the strength and conditioning field. I’d like to continue working with athletes in smaller groups—working with 50 kids at a time is a lot! I consider myself to still be open to trying new things to see what I like best.

One last question—why did you choose Chatham?

I went to Catholic schools growing up, and I guess I’m a small school person. I think you get a better connection with your other classmates, and a better connection with your professors.