Senior Lucas Cooper came to Colgate all the way from Houston, Texas, to play Division I lacrosse. Of the schools recruiting him, Colgate stood out to Cooper. 

“From the Frank employees to a random jogger on the ski hill, everyone had wonderful things to say about this campus. The rest is history,” Cooper said. 

Coming into Colgate, Cooper already knew he wanted to study economics. Also a self-declared Shakespeare enthusiast, Cooper was drawn to the English department and then eventually to his minor, creative writing. 

“To me, the whole world, to some extent, revolves around money. And I wanted to understand the world … as far as the creative writing minor, I’ve been a Shakespeare enthusiast since I took a class on the Bard my senior year of high school,” Cooper said. 

Cooper has spent his summers exploring two different career paths: finance and the military. He interned in the finance industry the summers after both his sophomore and junior years. While he loves the intellectual vigor of the finance industry, Cooper feels a strong responsibility to defend the country and its freedoms. 

“My mother grew up in San Salvador, El Salvador, a charming city that also has the third highest murder rate in the world. She came to the United States primarily to pursue an undergraduate degree at Rice University, but also to escape a violent civil war,” Cooper said. 

“Her experiences remind me that people around the world would literally die for privileges that we take advantage of every day. I want to do my part to protect those privileges and to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves,” Cooper said.

Cooper spent the summer after his first year and again this past summer at the Officer Candidate School to train to become an officer in the United States Marine Corps. Cooper has signed a four-year active duty contract with the Marine Corps that will begin after graduation. Once those four years are over, he hopes to attend business school to pursue a career in finance. 

“The thing I’m going to miss most about Colgate is the same thing that brought me here in the first place: the people.” Cooper said. “My advice to underclassmen would be to experience this place. Take classes that you’re interested in. Get to know the people around you. Have conversations that push you intellectually and challenge your beliefs.” 

Contact Tessa Ruff

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