Texas A&M punter lines up petroleum engineering job at Devon
Ryan Epperson, the No. 8 punter in college football, is a petroleum engineering major who interned with Devon Energy Corp. last summer. He already has a job lined up with the Oklahoma City energy company when he graduates.
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He wakes early to lift weights and is in class most of the morning and early afternoon. Football practice starts at 2:45 p.m. and lasts until dinner.
Epperson starts his homework when he gets home around 8 p.m.
“It's definitely been time consuming doing football and petroleum engineering, but it's been a good experience,” Epperson said. “It makes you manage your time extremely well. I have to plan ahead, especially when we're traveling on the weekend because when that happens, I can't do homework on Friday and Saturday. I have to make sure I plan accordingly and manage my time.”
Epperson's professors are accommodating, even though most of them have never had a student on the football team before.
“I introduce myself at the beginning of class and let them know my situation,” Epperson said. “They've been good about it.”
Balancing football with a heavy class load is not an easy task, but Epperson said he enjoys both and has found a way to make them work together.
“There are definitely hard times when the workload is ridiculous, but since my freshman year, I've figured out how to take things one step at a time and do what I need to do,” he said. “There's no point in getting stressed out about it. There have been times when I've been drowning in schoolwork and it's been no fun, but I knew I'd stick with it and it would be worth it.”
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