Toby L'Esperance
Trinity College
Men's Cross Country
Senior
Florence, Mass.
Major: Political Science
Minor: Environmental Science 

What is the best thing about being part of the NESCAC?
The best part about being in the NESCAC is that it is a great community of friends. Many of my friends from high school went to other NESCAC schools. I get to see them at competitions. The NESCAC is a tightly interconnected network of people. If you have dinner with a few random people from another NESCAC school odds are you share many mutual connections with them.

What extracurricular activities or service activities do you participate in?
I am president of H2Ope, a club founded by a former Trinity cross country runner that fundraises for and sponsors the construction of water wells in Ethiopia. Most of the members are athletes, so I felt very welcomed when I joined. I am also the president of TREEHouse, an environmental sustainability campus house. 

Is there anything special about your uniform number?
I don’t have a uniform number since I run track, but my favorite number is 2, to remind me that there is always a bigger fish.

What’s your go-to warm-up song?
Out West by JACKBOYS and Travis Scott (feat. Young Thug)

What has been the most interesting part of your major?
The most interesting part of my major so far has been the spring of 2023. Instead of taking classes, I earned my course credit by interning full-time for the Connecticut Speaker of the House (a Colby alum). I learned a great deal about politics and made valuable connections, many of which were with NESCAC alumni.

Who is your favorite professor?
I met Professor Nhat-Dang Do through the aforementioned internship he organized in the spring of 2023. Since then he has been very helpful in my professional and academic development, including my pursuit of graduate school. Above all, it is abundantly clear how sincerely he cares about his field of study and his pupils, making him a very enjoyable professor to work with.

What internships/research projects have you participated in? 
This summer I interned with a criminal defense law firm, where I learned that even ostensibly insignificant minutiae such as a single frame in a video, or one word in an immense document, can make or break the outcome of a case.

What is the greatest lesson you have learned from being a student-athlete?
Each day contains countless small decisions, each of which may take you closer to or further from your goals, even if only by tiny fractions of a percent. These choices add up to miles.

What is something interesting about you that others might not know?
I know how to unicycle. I learned in sixth grade and haven’t done it much since then, but I am capable of picking it up on a whim the same way you might casually hop on a bicycle after years away from it.

What is something you enjoy doing when not in class or competing in your sport?
I enjoy eating a great deal. I have breakfast, two lunches, and two dinners scheduled each day.