Scholar Stories: Lester Giving Back in More Ways Than One
11/23/2016 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling, Features
Every Wednesday during the 2016-17 academic year, MGoBlue.com will highlight a different student-athlete and their academic path. These are our Scholar Stories.
Cory Lester couldn't walk away at a time when he had every reason to.
After earning his University of Michigan undergraduate degree last spring in sport management, Lester had to decide whether or not he wanted to wrestle a fifth year. For some in his position, it's not even a decision at all.
It offers the ability to make up for time lost because of injury, academics, life or any such combination of the three. Others see it as a way to put off the real world and the relative uncertainty that can come with it.
But Lester decided to stay because he had more to learn.
He also had more to give.
"In some way, not coming back, not spending every possible practice back in that room was quitting to me in some kind of way," he said. "Every bead of sweat that could drip off me in my wrestling career, I wanted to do it. If I didn't come back, there would always be that little piece of me that would regret not making it all the way to the finish line."
Wrestling is in his blood. His father, Ken, competed at Michigan and was a college teammate of current head coach Joe McFarland. Cory, the third youngest of four children (he has three sisters), was a bit of a late bloomer with an odd athletic makeup, balancing wrestling with baseball at John Burroughs High School in St. Louis. A solid center fielder on the diamond, he was much better on the mat, going 196-9 and claiming three top-two finishes (one title) at the Missouri State Championships.
At this point in his collegiate career, Lester embraces his role. He knows he's not likely to crack the team's dual-meet lineup again, leaving his dual record a perfect 1-0 with a 6-4 win over Hofstra's Bryan Damon at 125 pounds last season.
There are 30 guys on the wrestling team, and only 10 get to wrestle in dual meets. Where some might see disappointment, Lester sees opportunity, particularly with his younger teammates.
"That's 20 guys who look for a reason to come in the door every day," he said. "In a long season, that's not always easy. It's hard to get through workouts if you don't see some kind of light at the end of the tunnel. Because I've been in that role, I know what it's like. I try to help those guys out as much as I can."
Lester is spending his final year on campus in the Master of Management program at the Ross School of Business. Once he leaves, he wants to be a business strategist at an innovation consulting firm in Chicago. As he explains it, business strategists figure out new opportunities for companies to come up products and/or reach out to new audience segments. Down the line, he hopes to start his own business.
Going down this road involves a creative, open mind. To get those juices flowing, Lester has a goal to read a different book every two weeks. Right now, he's reading "Originals" by Adam Grant.
Lester is also heavily invested in the surrounding community. He's volunteers his free time with Athletes For Community Transformation, a mentorship program involving weekly visits from student-athletes to area community centers for underprivileged children. After spending last year with Bryant Community Center, Lester went to Eliza Stein (field hockey), the president of the organization, and discussed the possibility of branching out to another center with the hope of doubling their efforts. Lester is now in charge of planning weekly activities at Hikone Community Center.
How does he have time for all this? Lester says that each semester, he tried to put one more thing on his plate, from those community service efforts to extra workouts or classes.
"I'm constantly surrounded by people who are motivating me to do things that I couldn't do on my own," he said. "I'm incredibly lucky to be here."
And Michigan is lucky to have him.
Players Mentioned
