Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 2, 1994 TAG: 9405020065
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ADRIENNE PETTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FERRUM LENGTH: Medium
\ As his classmates fiddled with their caps and nervously chattered outside Vaughn Chapel at Ferrum College, Quincy Antoine Quick glanced casually around him, calm and unexcitable.
"Cutie-Q" or "Q-squared," as some call him, only nodded and smiled occasionally to beaming friends. He looked sharp, with an African-inspired stole draped over both shoulders and a black cap hugging his freshly cropped hair.
Quick, 21, of Petersburg, just seemed too cool, too nonchalant, to have accomplished so much in such a short time.
After three years, Quick graduated with a major in biology, an impressive record as the basketball team's starting point guard, an adviser in his dormitory and a volunteer working with preschoolers as a Bonner Scholar, a community-service program.
A college record many would relish boasting on their resume is no big deal to Quick.
"It wasn't that hard. I took everything in stride the whole three years and didn't rush myself."
A modest reply. But you don't graduate with a B average in three years - juggling basketballs, books and community service - without long hours and oodles of commitment.
"There was no such thing as idle time for Quincy," said Ferrum basketball coach Bill Pullen. "If he's got an empty space, he's gonna fill it somehow with something constructive."
All three years, Quick took a full course load and went to summer school.
Quick plans to earn a master's degree in biology next year and then go on to medical school. His goal is to become a pediatrician.
"I said, `maybe you ought to just cool out this summer,' " said Quick's aunt Jacqueline Stevenson, who raised him and his twin brother Nathan.
"He's just determined he's going to make something of his life."
Quick also is committed to being a leader, both formally and by example.
He pushed his teammates both on court, as team captain for two years, and off court, as a studious athlete.
"I think I helped some of them a lot," he said. "They saw me doing well and it made them want to do better."
In light of Quick's healthy mix of athletics, academics and community service, commencement speaker Paula Pimlott Brownlee's remarks seemed appropriate.
Brownlee, president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities and former president of Hollins College, told 175 graduates gathered at Ferrum's 78th commencement to view the day not as a signal to turn learning aside, but as a "symbol of launching forward."
She urged the graduates to forge a life of endless discovery and creativity.
Jan Mary Kelley, a Pittsburgh native who received a citizenship award, gave similar advice in her senior class speech, aptly quoting a Pink Floyd song:
"All you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be."
by CNB