Momentum Award: Brooks Dyroff

Haisfield's words were not uttered in vain, as Dyroff's head coach, Jerry York, also had encouraging things to say about his sophomore role player.

"Brooks certainly adheres to the idea of a student athlete, because he works hard at school and works hard on the ice, so that phrase, when you talk about student athlete, really fits him," York said. "And it goes way beyond that with his other endeavors in CEO 4 Teens. He's just an amazing person, who has that ability to talk with everyone whether it's professors, students, or teammates. He's just a really positive role model for everyone."

No matter how hard it will get as he earns a more demanding role on the team and begins to take more difficult courses, in Dyroff's view, his work isn't about being an athlete or a student.

"I've never really looked at myself, or at least I try to, not think of myself as being better than anyone else for any reason at all," Dyroff said. "It actually bothers me sometimes, some of these awards, I'm not really seeking attention or anything like that."

"I think athletes have a tremendous amount of responsibility on college campuses, and they just have to recognize that power, and work almost twice as hard to do things that either give back or just show people that ‘Hey, you aren't any different than I am.' There shouldn't be any class hierarchy. I want to continue playing hockey, but I also know that there is a lot to recognize outside of the sport, and so that's just where I try to be the best person I can be in every aspect of my life."

Dyroff, who now has a Momentum Award from The Heights to add to his seemingly infinite list of life accomplishments, is going to continue building his project, adding a United States portion to his work that will try and given disadvantaged Americans the opportunity to take their GED tests.

"I just try to tell people, I like giving more than I like receiving. And that goes for trying to help people, help our community, and help the world, too. Me and Kenny are just two college kids, no different from anyone else, but we're trying to make a different and keep CEO 4 Teens growing and developing."

And he will do it, one electric blue hat at a time. ♦