INTRODUCTION: Nick Annechino has a demanding double major of Neuroscience and Psychology. His 'course load' on the football field is pretty rugged, too. He's an offensive lineman.
 

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How early did you start playing football?
I started playing organized football at the age of 5, however, some of the earliest memories I have are practicing stance and steps with my dad in my house as well as going to watch Aquinas Varsity football practices and being a ballboy at their football games so I have always been immersed in the sport.
 
What made it attractive?
Having grown up around the Aquinas football program, and my dad being a coach with the team, I looked up to those players like they were superheroes, titans of the game. I followed them around the field at all times, I would join in their workouts when I could and overall they were always very kind to me although I'm certain I was as annoying as an elementary schooler could be. I wanted to be that type of player someday. A player that little kids could look up to as their "hero" so to speak. 
 
When did you start thinking about playing in college?
 Right around middle school started I began to think about playing in college. That's when coaches started to mention I had some potential, however I knew I was never going to have the size that a very successful college football player would need, so I made up for it with hard work in the classroom and off the field in the weight room.
 
Your dad studied here and was on the team. How much input did he provide on the University?
My dad wanted me to do whatever was going to make me happy and set myself up for the best possible future I could have. While he told me U of R is a great school, he never pushed it on me too much and this is very similar to the way he applied football to my life as well. He told me growing up that if I decided football was not my thing, and that I did not want to play in college or high school, he wouldn't care as long as whatever I chose made me happy. He is very supportive of most decisions I make.

 

You have been an offensive lineman since you played at Aquinas Institute. How's life in the trenches?
 It definitely is not something everyone can do. All positions in sports and football have their own strengths, skillsets and challenges involved, but offensive line is unique in the sense that you have to be willing to play in pain. That isn't to say offensive linemen are masochists, but to a certain extent, being able to focus and play through pain is something unique to the guys in the trenches. Every play, you are getting hit in a different spot, whether it be head on or to the side, there is punching and grabbing and twisting, and for myself personally this all goes on against guys much bigger than myself. But at the end of each play you decide to get back up and keep battling for your teammates and there's a certain beauty in that as well. Being an offensive lineman is somewhat of a brotherhood that only others who have played in the trenches will fully understand.
 
When you came out of the tunnel on opening night last year vs. Case, can you describe the atmosphere? (Ed. Note – The crowd of 3,131 was Rochester's largest home game crowd in 11 years.)
 As clichéd and overplayed as this might sound, it was an electric feeling, the way that can be described as "right before lightning strikes". Hearing the roar of a crowd in packed stands while running out of the locker room sent an excited shiver down my spine that I remember vividly. There is a sort of buzz in the air as well before the opening kickoff comes, and the excited energy is radiating off the spectators and players.
 
As the season continued, what did you learn about being an offensive lineman in a strong football conference?
 I learned pretty quickly to set aside some Advil next to my bed in the morning that I could reach with very little movement. The Sundays after each game felt like I'd been in a car wreck. That is a given when you are young playing with guys much bigger and older than you. It was a feeling I experienced fairly often my sophomore year of high school as well so by now, I was starting to get used to it. I learned that the learning curve for college football was also pretty steep, but once I had a hold on it, the game began to slow down a little more as each game progressed. It certainly required a lot more studying of our playbook as well as the defenses that we were playing that week. Playing at the college level requires much more brain power so it is a good thing that we go to a school like U of R.
 
When you are home, do you work with any youth programs – coaching, counseling, serving as an official or a timer? What do you like about doing that?
 While I do not work in youth programs involving my sport, I try to get involved in community service when I can. The summers after my junior and senior year, I volunteered for two weeks at a day camp for children called Camp Open Arms for children affected by cancer, either themselves personally or their family members and it is a great experience. I worked with the 3-5 year olds and it is so rewarding to see these kids having fun and enjoying life to the fullest. I was not able get involved last summer but I hope to in the summer of 2021.
 
What led you to the University of Rochester?
 There are many things that led me to the University of Rochester. Their excellent academics was the main point for me, and I knew it would help prepare me for med school, as I have wanted to be a doctor for quite some time now and hope to attend the University of Rochester for medical school as well. The school was close to home and my family who are my support system, my mom works at the hospital so I have been afforded excellent tuition benefits due to that and coming to U of R allowed me to continue to play the game that I have loved for over three- quarters of my life. It was a no brainer.
 
You are carrying a double major of Neuroscience and Psychology. Is there a connection between the two concentrations?
There are certain courses that overlap between the two, and the way the brain works physiologically is also connected to the way we think. I decided to originally be a neuroscience major because having played football most of my life, and the emerging studies on concussions and CTE that came out as I got older interested me. I found I wanted to study it more and more. I'm my own "case study" so to speak and that is what has driven my interest. I've experienced first-hand the symptoms and long term effects of repeated concussions and head trauma. Once I got to U of R and began taking psych classes, specifically Brain and Cognitive science 110 with Professor Davis, I realized as a psychology class, it overlaps with neuroscience as well and drove my interest further into psychology which I very much enjoy studying.
 
As a sophomore, are you now taking courses specific to your majors?
 In the fall I took another brain and cognitive science course for my psychology major and in the spring I am taking Statistics for Neuroscience and will be a TA for Psych 161 which is another class I enjoyed my freshman year. By being a TA, I will earn credit for a "teaching psychology" course. Most of my Neuroscience classes also have to do with being premed, junior and senior year will be when I am loading up on neuroscience courses.
 
Are you involved in any campus groups tied to your studies? Will you join some in the future?
 As of right now I am not involved in campus groups specifically related to my studies. I am involved in VSAAC as of right now and I would be interested in joining other groups in the future, It is tough to find time with classes, a job and football, but I would not be opposed to joining other groups.