Daniel Schober was eight years old when his family was featured in the fall 1995 issue of Inventing Tomorrow. The story, “All in the IT Family,” outlined the close connections that more than 10 members of Daniel's family have to the Institute of Technology—ties that spanned three generations.
Today Daniel is 18, a University freshman planning to major in biomedical engineering. His enrollment extends that connection through four consecutive generations.
But believe it or not, his decision to follow in the footsteps of his mother, father, uncles, aunts, grandfather, grandmother, great-uncles, and great-great-uncle wasn't a foregone conclusion.
“Daniel is a talented athlete as well as a gifted student, and he seriously considered a school where he'd have a better chance of playing baseball,” said his mother, Chris, a mechanical engineering alumna.
“I was torn because he loves sports, and I wanted to see him continue to play,” she said. “But I know well that the education he will receive here will be second to none.”
According to Chris, she and her husband, Steve (an electrical engineering graduate), didn't pressure Daniel to attend the University. At one point they even put money down at another school.
"We tried to be supportive, even though we both had our own opinions,” Chris said. “But I didn't pull out the article about our family or anything. I didn't want him to feel like he had to attend the University of Minnesota to carry on a family legacy.”
Daniel, who was captain of the football, hockey, and baseball teams at Saint Anthony Village High School in St. Anthony, Minn., said his parents left the final decision to him.
"My parents and I talked about the options, but they didn't try to persuade me,” he said. “They knew that I wanted to play sports, and they knew that I want a great education. In the end, when it comes down to athletics versus education, education wins every time in my family.”
Education trumped athletics during the past 70 years of Schober family history, but Daniel has not given up on athletics at the University.
"I've joined the snowboarding club, and I'm going to play club sports,” he said. “The opportunities here are endless, and I know I made the right decision.”
And after Daniel decided to attend the University and major in engineering, his parents showed him the articles and photos documenting their family's Institute of Technology pedigree.
“It was cool," Daniel said. “I knew about some of the people who graduated from IT but not all of them. It's great to be part of family tradition.”
