Senior Spotlight: Braden Meints

Stock Chenault

by Blake Carlson, Staff Reporter

Q: Where are you from?
A: I am from Garner, Iowa

Q: What is your Major?
A: Physical Education with a minor in coaching. I had a great P.E. teacher in high school which lead me to being a P.E. teacher.

Q: What is your biggest passion in life?
A: Making an impact on kids. I have always had an opportunity to coach kids, we have a rec center in Garner so I have spent a lot of my time there. Every break I go home for, I see kids and try to help them make the right decisions in life.

Q: You recently got the opportunity to participate in a football program in Mexico, how did that experience impact you?
A: We played against the Mexico All-Star team, it was an experience to play against a team that had been practicing together while we were a combined team of Division III players who had only been practicing for four days. We also got the opportunity to spend time with orphaned children. There was a language barrier, but spending time with them and seeing the effect you can have on kids from a different country and what they are coming from kind of changes your outlook.

Q: Who is your biggest inspiration?
A: Right now, it is probably Adam Thielen from the Minnesota Vikings, he went through a similar situation with football getting into college, and he has worked his way up to being one of the best wide receivers in the NFL.

Q: What are your future plans?
A: The football dream is still alive. Keep working towards that. I’ll have some coaching opportunities coming up, next Fall I will be student teaching at Norwalk. I would also like to get a student coaching job here at Simpson.