Nick Dolan is an unsung hero of Saint Louis University. His college career hasn’t begot him a plethora of awards or accolades, but his meritorious character speaks louder than any empty symbol or lip service.

Dolan is majoring in meteorology at SLU and is hoping to pursue a career in weather-prediction after college. From a very young age, Dolan was always fascinated and excited by weather, leading him to seek out more and more knowledge on the subject. Throughout his youth, Dolan could often be found scanning the internet or the weather channel for incoming weather anomalies. Despite his love of weather, Dolan never really planned on formally studying it. Going into college, Dolan hadn’t picked a major; it was his freshman year roommate who finally convinced him to do meteorology. “I was thinking about doing mechanical engineering but then, I was like, ‘Fuck that, I’m going to do something that I like.’” Dolan explained that his reason for loving weather is its unpredictability. Dolan feels drawn to a profession that attempts to predict that which is entirely unpredictable. Even today, experts are nowhere near total accuracy. Dolan’s approach to weather-prediction is informed by one of the mottos he lives by: “Expect the unexpected.”

Dolan is also a student-athlete on SLU’s Cross Country and Track and Field team. As a kid, he had tried many different sports from baseball to basketball, but it wasn’t until 4th grade, after running well at a local track meet, that he realized he wanted to start focusing on running. The following year he broke his school record for the 800 meters with a time of 2 minutes, 37 seconds. Dolan’s philosophy of running is simple: “I value dedication,” he said, admitting that while talent can play a role, success always comes down to hard work. While some athletes have routines and superstitions, Dolan claims he doesn’t need this to feel comfortable before a race. As he puts it: “I have pairs of socks that I will race in, but I don’t think of them as lucky socks.” For him, it is more important to make healthy decisions on and off the track. Training doesn’t just happen in the allocated time from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. every day; you must live and breathe it, according to Dolan. In his first two years of college athletics, Dolan was injured. He ran only a handful of races in those two years and was forced to cheer his teammates on from the sidelines both at races and in practice. Despite this immense setback, Dolan stuck with it, standing by his team and never giving up where most would have. 

In fact, many athletes did quit the team in those two years with much less-affecting injuries. No one currently on the Cross Country or Track and Field teams with injury has stayed on as long as Dolan has. He explained, “I didn’t want to be a quitter. Once I start something, I continue to do it. I’m not going to let anything stop me from doing something.” When asked what kept him going, Dolan simply responded that he would always try to remember to think long-term. No matter how hard things got, the confidence that things would eventually get better kept him motivated. Dolan admitted that it wouldn’t always work but he knew he had to keep trying. And, although Dolan is finally healthy enough to race this season, he still has a long way to go before he is satisfied. Until then, Dolan will continue to follow his own philosophy and stay dedicated.