In Pursuit Podcast

Both from northwest England. Both found their way to Ashland.  Head Men’s Soccer Coach Nick Roberts grew up playing soccer in the working-class leagues of England where the game meant everything. He came to the States to play college soccer, pursued coaching with intention and spent decades building programs from the ground up. Sophomore Tom Woodward made his own version of that leap. Six hours on a plane wondering somewhere over the Atlantic whether he was trading something he couldn't get back. He arrived from Salford having spent a gap year in the non-league lower divisions playing against seasoned men twice his age who had no interest in going easy on him. That year tested him. By his first season at Ashland he had earned All-Region honors as a freshman and helped anchor a team made almost entirely of first-year players still learning to find their footing. Thousands of miles from home, what settled them wasn't soccer. It was the people. Tom arrived not knowing what to expect and found a community that welcomed him before he'd earned it. Nick has spent years reminding his players that the people around them are the ones who make the pursuit worth it. At Ashland both of them found that to be true.

Not everything worth building shows up in the box score. In this conversation, Head Football Coach Doug Geiser and linebacker Jack Talkington reflect on what it means to pursue something worthy, not just something winnable. Doug traces the chain of mentors who shaped his coaching philosophy, from the high school coach who handed him a book of quotes and made his players take quizzes before practice, to the colleague who taught him that recruiting is really just about being yourself and building real relationships. Every coach who believed in him left something behind that he now carries forward. Jack speaks about the people who steadied him when the path got hard. His sister, who battled back from multiple knee injuries just to play one year of high school sports, was the first person he called after his own injury. Her honesty prepared him for what was ahead. The older players who arrived at 6 a.m. before anyone was watching shaped what he now understands about culture. He is becoming one of those players. Throughout the conversation, they return to a conviction that runs through everything at Ashland: the facilities will eventually fall, but the bonds formed in the work will not. Doug says it plainly. Before the new weight rooms and championship facilities, Ashland was still winning, because it was always about the people. Jack heard that and chose to come here because the place felt like home before he could fully explain why. What they are both pursuing is the same thing, a way of living and leading that outlasts any single season.

Not every calling begins with certainty. Often, it begins with questions. Zack Van Farowe, a senior majoring in psychology and religion, sits down with Alex Hill, Director of the Center for CommUNITY & Belonging, to reflect on the path that led them both toward ministry. What starts as a conversation about choosing Ashland and finding community quickly deepens into something more personal: a candid exchange about doubt, formation and the work of becoming the kind of leader others can trust. Zack speaks about the questions that shaped him, how apologetics gave language to what he was already wrestling with and how mentors at Ashland helped him see that ministry is not built on argument, but on humility. Alex reflects on his own unexpected path from collegiate athletics to pastoral leadership, including the season he stepped in to guide a grieving track team after the loss of a coach. In that moment, leadership was no longer about performance. It was about presence. Together, they consider what it means to shepherd well, to listen before speaking, to empower rather than control and to remain faithful when the path ahead is not fully clear. This is a conversation about lives in motion. About influence formed in community. About pursuing a calling not for recognition, but for service, and learning to walk toward it with others beside you.

Leadership begins long before the title does. John Keim, a sophomore studying communication and journalism with a minor in political science, sits down with Randy, Ashland University’s Interim Vice President of Enrollment Management and longtime mayor of his hometown. What begins as a conversation about degrees and career paths quickly becomes something deeper: a reflection on public service, mentorship and the responsibility that comes with influence. Randy shares how his journey into politics began almost accidentally and how thirteen years in local government reshaped his understanding of impact. John reflects on the early mentors who handed him a Constitution and helped him see that his voice could matter. Together, they consider what it means to pursue leadership not for status, but for service. They speak honestly about disagreement, civic responsibility and the discipline of staying rooted in truth in a world of noise. It’s a conversation about generational exchange, about the courage to step forward while still listening well and about the kind of leadership that remains accountable to the people it serves.

The path to the classroom rarely looks the way you expect it to. In this conversation, two seniors look back at the decisions that shaped their time in college and the moments that quietly redirected them. Wyatt talks about starting undecided, trying exercise science and eventually realizing that education allowed him to pursue what he loved — history — while also investing in people. Lauren reflects on shifting into early childhood education and discovering how much she values being a steady presence in a young student’s life. They speak candidly about the spaces that formed them along the way — fraternity and sorority leadership, campus jobs, community service and the professors who modeled what it looks like to truly love the work. What began as involvement became responsibility. What felt like small steps became preparation. They also name the tension that comes with choosing education. The questions about salary. The weight of influence. The reality that students carry more than backpacks into a classroom. For Wyatt and Lauren, the answer is not prestige. It is impact. This is a conversation about stepping into a profession where presence matters.

The future does not always begin with a plan. Sometimes it begins with a question. In this conversation, Assistant Provost of Student Success Catherine Williams and student Payton O’Toole reflect on the moments that helped them discover their purpose. Catherine shares how her own experience as a student at Ashland still shapes the way she mentors students today. The faculty who challenged her to grow, the decision to pursue her MBA and the lessons she learned in their classrooms continue to guide the way she serves the Ashland community. Payton speaks about learning to move forward before feeling fully ready. From picking up a camera on her first day in journalism classes to applying for internships that once felt out of reach, she describes how her confidence has grown through experience. What once felt unfamiliar has become the work she is now pursuing. Throughout the conversation, they return to the role mentors play in helping students see what is possible. When faculty and staff share their own journeys, students begin to understand that meaningful work rarely follows a perfect plan. Instead, it unfolds through guidance, experience and the willingness to ask an important question. What do you hope your work will give to the world?

Janel Molnar, Director of Recreational Services, and student Sarah Watson talk about what it means to care in quiet, everyday ways. Sarah shares how personal loss deepened her desire to walk with others, while Janel speaks to the importance of creating spaces where students feel seen. Together, they explore how care, practiced with intention, becomes more than kindness. It becomes purpose and culture.

Tyshawn Lane and Stanley Turpin reflect on growing up in Cleveland and the shift to a small-town campus away from home. They speak with honesty about the friendships and faith that carried them through the challenges of that transition, and the people who helped them persevere when it would’ve been easier to leave.

Dr. Tony Basham, Assistant Professor of New Testament and student, Grace Moricca share on the quiet work of listening to scripture, to the Spirit and to the people who walk alongside you. Together, they explore how calling unfolds over time, revealed through discipline, reflection and the steady presence of a community that believes in who you are becoming.  

Dr. Cara Rogers Stevens, Associate Professor of History and Dr. Greg McBreyer, Interim Provost and Associate Professor of Political Science offer a glimpse into the intellectual life at Ashland, where learning is both invitation and discipline. They reflect on curiosity, reading and the joy of serious thinking, not as abstract ideals but habits that shape how students approach the world.

Ashland University alumna Hayley Smith and women’s basketball coach Kari Pickens reflect on faith, mentorship and what it means to carry purpose through seasons of change. As Hayley prepares to play basketball overseas, they speak honestly about transition, trust and the steady presence of community through moments of uncertainty.