Junior Ian Esliker has done his fair share of creating turnovers and taking the ball away from oppoents as a defensive back on the football team. The biology major plans to give back to society in the field of medicine after he graduates.

Esliker’s plan took a detour in the summer of 2020 after his internship at the Masonic Medical Research Institute in nearby Utica was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fortunately, he has plenty of previous experience to fall back on for now.

In the summer of 2018, Esliker did a clinical shadowing internship in the Department of Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center. He shadowed the chief of cardiac surgery, medical teams on patient rounds, and a cardiac surgery nurse practitioner. He observed surgical procedures such as mitral valve replacement/repair, coronary artery bypass, and aortic valve repair.

Esliker was a lab volunteer during the spring semester of his first year at Hamilton. He received training to perform Polymerase Chain Reactions of DNA, cloning DNA into plasmids and sequencing and analysis of the DNA for XYZ lab. While Esliker was still in high school, he participated in a science research internship at Columbia University where he assisted with two research projects.

Esliker also contributes to his hometown community in Pleasantville, N.Y. where he was vice-president of Holy Innocents Youth Group at Holy Innocents Church. One of the group’s activities was to visit the Pleasantville Cottage School – a school for troubled children – and interact with the kids.

Back on campus, Esliker is involved with the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee E-Board and Diversity Inclusion. He has been credited with 23 tackles, five interceptions, three blocked kicks and two fumble recoveries during his football career with the Continentals. In 2019 he tied for third in the NESCAC with four interceptions.

Head Coach David Murray had this to say about Ian: “In addition to being a starter and outstanding player in our secondary, Ian has been involved in numerous community service projects both on and off campus. Ian's on-campus projects include the Food Salvage Program and "Get in the Game - Be the Match" bone marrow registry. His off-campus projects include our annual Community Clean-Up Day and mentorship at The House of the Good Shepherd.”