Florida Tech Panther Scholar-Athlete Spotlight Recognizes Cross Country Runner Jack Schule

Schule is majoring in Biomedical Engineering

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Being a scholar-athlete at Florida Tech takes an incredible amount of hard work and dedication to excel both in the classroom and on the field. We caught up with Panther cross country runner Jack Schule, a junior who is majoring in Biomedical Engineering, for this edition of Scholar-Athlete Spotlight.

Originally from Caselton, New York, Schule attended Nease High School in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida before making the trip to Melbourne.

He competed in four races for the Panthers in 2023 with a career-best time of 29:12.7 in the 8K at the UAH Chargers Invitational and finished 87th at the SSC Championships in November with a time of 30:16.9.

Following the 2021 season, Schule was named to the SSC Commissioner’s and Florida Tech Athletic Director’s Honor Roll with a perfect 4.0 GPA. He has been named to the Dean’s List every semester.

Jack joined us to talk about what made him choose Florida Tech and how he wants to his education.

■ Tell us a little bit about your major, what made you choose it and what do you want to do with it?

I decided to join the biomedical engineering department here at Florida Tech. The reason I came to that conclusion was that I wanted to help people, and I felt that my strongest strengths in high school were science and math and that was a good major to apply those strengths to.

■ Sounds like you already have a plan for how you want to put your degree to use…

I primarily want to work on research and development for prosthetic limbs, arms and legs for veterans and whoever else needs help.

■ Cross Country’s season starts almost as soon as students return from the summer, how do you make sure you stay on top of your studies as you jump back into your sport after break?

Cross country is pretty cool because everything is earlier in the morning. So, even though it’s not fun waking up at 5 A.M. every day, it doesn’t impact everything else because you have the rest of the day to work on everything else. You just have to make sure you get a good night’s sleep.

■ Is there a teammate or fellow athlete who you’ve become study buddies with?

Unfortunately, BME is really small, so I know three other people in my class who are athletes that are in women’s lacrosse and swimming.

■ What are some things you need to get the most out of study time? Do you have a playlist or need to be by yourself in a room?

I’m kind of a loner, so I’ll lock myself in my room for however long I need to and just memorize all my notes and stuff for as long as it takes for any given test.

■ How has being a collegiate athlete prepared you for what you’re doing now and are there lessons from cross country that you apply to your studies?

Definitely punctuality and responsibility. Again, being up every morning at a specific time without fail every single day takes a toll on you and you have to make sure that you keep to that schedule, day by day. Responsibility as well, you have to be there for your team, they have to be there for you and you have to be able to work as a team.

■ What advice would you give to an athlete coming to Florida Tech that has an interest in Biomedical Engineering?

Definitely be ready to have some long nights studying and even if it seems hard, just don’t give up, you’ve got this. I know a lot of people who were struggling at points, but they always managed to make it back.

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