Speaker: The views and opinions expressed in this podcast by the hosts and guests may or may not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Miami University.

Speaker: Freshman year I came in undecided.

Speaker: I'm finance, entrepreneurship, anthropology.

Speaker: I'm a senior architecture student.

Speaker: I'm involved in the blockchain club here.

Speaker: I'm very passionate about studying abroad.

Speaker: Classes are going great.

Speaker: And then obviously very involved with my sorority.

Speaker: I'm thriving.

Meredith Aliff 

Hi, I'm Meredith Aliff. And this is Major Insight. This is the podcast where we talk college life with amazing students about how to find your place and purpose on campus.

As an athlete, an academic and an entrepreneur, Orin Edward strives for absolute excellence in all aspects of life. As one of the quarterbacks for the Miami Redhawks football team. Orin shines as a leader both on and off the field. And as a student studying biology and Sports Leadership and Management, he understands how essential time management and balance are for success in school. Orin is also the founder of power plates, a startup that prepares and delivers fast and fresh home cooked meals to local students. But finding success isn't always easy. And not everything always goes as planned. So we'll also talk about not giving up when your reality unravels, about overcoming the limitations often imposed on us by others, about the power of changing your perspective, and more -- all on this true to life story of how much growth can actually happen in college.

Meredith Aliff 

All right, question number one, who are you?

Meredith Aliff 

I love it. Absolutely. That's so great. So why don't we go back to before college, maybe like senior year, you're applying to schools? What made you ultimately choose Miami?

Orin Edwards 

So my name is Orin Edwards. I'm a senior here at Miami University. I play football as well as a couple other things, just trying to be involved with the Oxford community. Also the student body, I guess, of Miami University. So I'm a football player who does other things.

Orin Edwards 

Yeah. So for me in high school, football was my everything, for the most part. Obviously, being a high school athlete and having the ability to play in college, you are kind of put on a pedestal. That's how I put it. But with that being said, when it came to choosing colleges, it was basically all based off of my options for football. So um, I came here, and I had a lot of division two offers, there were full ride scholarships, and whatnot. So in high school senior year, I was kind of weighing the factors of it, the pros and the cons of each school. And Miami, I felt like there was a good opportunity to play here at a school like this. And then the level of education here as well. The rigor of the school definitely drew me towards coming here.

Meredith Aliff 

Absolutely. I mean, I think it's really important for all high school student athletes that are trying to play in college, you have to like the school for more than just what it can offer you athletics wise, you know, I have a brother, he plays hockey, and he's a senior in high school right now. And he's trying to figure out where to apply, where these different schools are offering him walk ons and scholarships and all this stuff. And he's the exact same way, he's like, "I know that this isn't going to be my life forever. So I need to make sure that I'm also getting a good education for when I'm done, whatever that may be, whether that's I go play pro for a while, or whether that's I play in college, and that's it" or, you know, he's like, I just want to have a good plan. Post my athletic career.

Orin Edwards 

Yes. Yeah. And that's exactly what my parents were kind of pushing on me my entire life, for the most part, saying, "hey, football is great. And I'm so glad that you're talented, and God's given you this ability to do well in football. But you have to see the bigger picture as well." You have to essentially be a winner in the game of life as well, don't just be a winner on the football field. And that's the ... that's kind of what stuck with me. Because I said, Okay, if I can win in the game of life every day and not only be seen as a football player, then I'm kind of putting myself ahead of others who essentially only see themselves for their athletic ability.

Meredith Aliff 

Did you already know what you wanted your majors to be when you got here? Or did you kind of decide that after you arrived?

Orin Edwards 

Yeah. So for my major, I'm a biology major. So I knew coming into Miami that I want to do biology. Now. I will say that was a little bit. Um, I guess when you're in high school, and you hear about college biology... I mean, I've had millions of people tell me, "oh, that's gonna be impossible while playing a sport. Oh, biology that's so hard. Oh, you're not gonna be able to have any social life." And as 18 year old, that was what I was hearing and I'm like, "Well, I don't want to do biology in that case. I'm kind of scared of that level of education, I guess." But that's why I have to give so much credit to my parents, because they continue to push me and say, "Hey, you don't know what they have .... what these outside voices have going on in their lives, or what experiences they've had to make them say that to you. So therefore, you should probably just go ahead and go into it with an open mind and see what your experience is." And if you don't like it anymore, or if you're swayed another way, or in a different direction, then cross that bridge when it comes. But if you have said that you wanted to be a doctor or something in the medical field your entire life, I think that would be a disservice to yourself to not even try.

Meredith Aliff 

Yeah, don't let anybody tell you that you shouldn't do something that you've been wanting to do.

Orin Edwards 

Exactly. And I surprise myself every day, because coming into freshman year, I was like, Man, I'm a biology major. It's gonna be so hard, almost impossible. I don't know how I'm going to do this, especially playing football, like, how am I going to balance everything? When now I'm a senior, and I'm going to graduate in May with a biology degree. So I think that's kind of just shows like if you just put your head down and work, and don't really .... and just kind of ignore all the outside voices. And don't, don't play into what Susie and Brian have to say at the end of the day, because it's your life, it's your destiny. It's your journey. And if you want it, you can get it.

Meredith Aliff 

Absolutely. I love that answer. And then you also have a minor, correct?

Orin Edwards 

Yeah, so also a minor in SLAM -- Sports Leadership and Management. And that's more so coming from the football side, thinking outside of if I was just ... if I wasn't going to go into the medical field, then okay, maybe I do stay in the football industry, and now become a coach. So that's why I decided to go ahead and pick up the SLAM minor so that no matter what, I'm still like, I can fall back and become a coach. So no matter what, that's not a bad route either.

Meredith Aliff 

No, absolutely not. Well, it sounds like you've got all your bases covered. You're ready for whatever life throws at you next, which is awesome. Are there any people like staff, faculty here at Miami, that have kind of helped shape you into from freshman year Orin into senior year, Orin, that you would kind of want a shout out today on the podcast?

Orin Edwards 

Yeah. Okay, so I have a couple. So I guess first off, just gearing my football side, I would say Coach Martin, first off, he has been a tremendous role model for me, especially just growing as a man my four years through football. And most of that is due to just listening to Coach Martin, and really, really trying to take his lessons and his values to heart. And then second, I want to shout out my my quarterback coach, Gus Raglan. And he's a young guy, he's a younger guy, he's younger than 30. So for me, and me with him, I want to shout him out, because he's kind of showing me what it's like to, to pick something up on the fly, because he's a first year coach, as a quarterback coach, at a very young age, he's picking it up on the fly. And he's doing such a good job learning, adapting, and also mentoring these players who are only four or five years younger than him. But he's keeping it professional, extremely professional, but also giving us the ability to have fun, which is impressive to me, because that's someone who I can kind of see myself being like at that role ... or I guess in that type of role at that age. Then with that being said, my last one now shout out is actually a teacher. Her name was Maria Gonzalez, and she was my biology professor for ecology. And that class, I would say, was my turning point in biology, where I kind of knew, like, okay, you can do this, and she gave me so much confidence. That was what I needed to know that biology isn't some impossible major. It's more so are you willing to do what you have to do to succeed?

Meredith Aliff 

Give me ... because I'm very interested in this. Give me a rundown of what a regular day in the life looks like for you, with practice and classes and all the other things that you do outside of that.

Orin Edwards 

For sure. Okay. Well, everything for me is first off based off my football schedule. What do I have for football of the day? Because that's the main priority, because you can't miss a football practice. Or you miss a football practice, you're gonna have consequences. So let's say it's a Monday. Monday is our off day for football. But we have a meeting at 3pm. And then we have yoga at 4pm. So my football obligation for Monday is from three to five. I know that. So with that being said, I have class at 10:05 to 11:20. So I'll wake up, say around 8:30 on Monday, go to class, and then after class, that's where I start my .... where I want to start the week off right. So that straight work, productivity, getting my homework done for whatever homework I have on Tuesday, Wednesday, I'm reviewing it, I'm looking over what pages I need to read, what lectures I need to look over. That's what I'm focusing on before yoga. So for about three hours after my class is just schoolwork, and whatever other work for my business, or moreso just life. If I need to do laundry, I'll do laundry. And then we have meetings at three in the yoga four. So I do that. And then at 5pm on Mondays, I usually will start cooking for power plates, because power plates opens at 6pm. And we're open from 6pm to midnight, but I'm also like hanging out with my friends. Because the nice part about my business is that when an order comes in, the food is usually already ready. So I just have to fulfill the order, essentially just deliver it. That just means I just get to hang out with my friends at my house. And then when an order comes, oh, go do this really quick. Then come back to hanging out with my friend. So it's nice. And those are Mondays. But then on Tuesday ... It's funny because the routine essentially is the same, but it changes drastically. Because I have practice now. So now I know, okay, Tuesday, that means it's another big football day, because Tuesday is the beginning of the practice week, because we have practice for football Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. And then I'll go to practice from one to five. That's a great time, because you're getting away from, I guess the rigor of life. You know?

Meredith Aliff 

I was actually literally going to ask you that. I was like, you know, you've got all these things going on outside. I wonder if that four hours is kind of like almost a mental break from everything else. And you just get to focus on one thing for four hours.

Orin Edwards 

Exactly. And that's why ... it's kind of like an escape, you know, because like you said, I get to focus on one thing. And it's important for me to remember, hey, this is your time for football. Don't think about your business right now. Don't think about school right now. Don't think about what you're doing socially right now. Just focus on football.

Meredith Aliff 

Right? So okay, very cool. Well, for those who don't know, you can do a little shameless plug here. Tell me about power plates. How do you run this business in college?

Orin Edwards 

Yes, power plates is a student run food service in Oxford, Ohio. So we offer local pickup, and then we offer local delivery. And it's been great.

Meredith Aliff 

I mean, it just seems like the coolest business ever. But I think one of the most important things that you do as well, with the business, is something that I guess I didn't really think about in college is just meal prep, you know, you buy three of your meals in bulk. And then you've got three dinners for three nights of the week. And you don't have to cook, you don't have to do any of the meal prep yourself. You just kind of have them sitting there on the fridge and you just heat them up and eat them.

Orin Edwards 

That's exactly right. And that's what we were saying. We're just trying to make it easier for college kids. Because at the end of the day, we're serving people, we're trying to make your life easier. Because when it's meal prep, you have a meal, essentially, you have a meal that's gonna fill you up. And then with that being said, you also have um ... well, we kind of geared towards athletes initially. So if you're trying to count your calories, your macros, I guess you could say, That's a great way to just have the same amount of macros every day. So it's very easy to calculate. And then we also have people coming every week almost on a subscription. And they get their five meals for the week. They pay their however much, and they're good, you know, and they get five no great meals.

Meredith Aliff 

Yeah. Comfort food. That's what I crave more than anything when I'm here. It's just good cooking, comfort food.

Orin Edwards 

Yes, that's what my mom said as well, that's what my mom always said. College kids crave comfort food. Because when do you get that home cooked meal?

Meredith Aliff 

Right, it reminds you of home.

Orin Edwards 

Yeah, it definitely does. And you really don't get too many home cooked meals here. So that's what we're trying to provide for people.

Meredith Aliff 

Absolutely. And as someone from West Virginia, we value food so much in my family, like, food is what brings us together with the mac and cheese and the chicken and oh, I mean, it's just the best. It's just the best. Well, you've got my mouth watering because I haven't eaten yet today. So thanks so much for that. Okay, so you're a senior, played football all four years, bio major, SLAM minor, you've got this business. You've had so much success in college. Did you ever struggle at any point? You know, in those first couple years, were there any big challenges that you needed to overcome in order to kind of be where you are now?

Orin Edwards 

Yes. 100%. Like I said, I think these four years have been the biggest ... or the most amount of growth I've seen in my entire life. And that is due to challenges. And that's due to not having everything going your way. At the end of the day, I mean, life is not fair. Life will throw a million different things at you. And it's how do you react to these situations that will prove to what you're going to become? So I would say sophomore year for football. That was the toughest year for me. I wasn't playing. Essentially I felt like I had no role on the team. I felt like I was just kind of there. And mentally, for me, being I would say, not a super strong minded 19 year old at the time, and kind of thinking that I was supposed to have everything handed to me because --not saying everything has been handed to me. But I've only seen positive results, especially in football for my entire life. Because, um, you know, I always just been the "guy." So then I came to college, and it was kind of like a slap in the face, or moreso a rude awakening, letting you know, hey, you're not the "guy."

Meredith Aliff 

There were like 200 the "guys" that are all now here.

Orin Edwards 

Yeah! By the way, everyone else is the guy too. So that's, that was a transition period for me where I had to realize, okay, maybe you're not the guy on the physical play. But maybe you can be the guy in a different area. Maybe you can provide value to this team in a different way. But I had to come to an unders1tanding, and moreso to be real with myself. So I would say during spring ball sophomore year was when I had that, like, it was like an almost like an intervention. It was like, okay, either you're gonna quit football right now. And you're going to have no idea what you're going to do. You're going to make an emotional decision to say, "You know what, the sport you've been playing my entire life. One thing didn't go my way. I quit. I'm done," you know. But one thing that they say is quitters never win, and winners never quit. As simple as a saying as that is quitters never win because you quit before you have the opportunity to win. Or moreso find your win. Because winning is different for everyone else, it has to be relative to you. So if you do something that I guess you see as a win, you already won. And that's where I was at. I knew I had a lot more to give in football. But for the first time in your life, brother, it didn't go the way that you envisioned it. So that's where I'd have to say, "okay, find my role, do well in my role and attack my role everyday, like, you're gonna be the best that you're going to be." So essentially, for me, that kind of turned into signaling. Now I'm a signaler on the football team. And that made me feel like I had a role on the team. I'm involved in the game, because I'm calling the plays. It was quote, unquote, my "win." I was winning every time that I went out there, and I signaled. Every time that I had a good day signaling I won today. So now I'm stacking good days, just because I shifted my mindset. It's like don't be as hard on myself, but still be hard on myself for what I'm doing. Being disciplined, and staying disciplined.

Meredith Aliff 

And I feel like that shift of mindset, it's not a bad thing. And I feel like people put such a negative connotation on changing your goals, or changing how you look at something. There's nothing wrong with that at all. Because now here you are very successful player on the team, you have this amazing role. And people, I mean, obviously look up to you as a senior on the team. And you know, you've got this business that are feeding all these boys, I'm sure they love you. But to change your mindset a little bit and realize, like, Hey, I might not be getting the playing time that I want. But that doesn't mean that I've lost. Like, I can still find my quote unquote "win" on this team, my place on this team. So to be able to find that as awesome.

Orin Edwards 

Exactly. Thank you. And the one thing I will add to is understanding that you can still be a leader on the team without necessarily being the starting quarterback. That was the biggest thing that I had to just understand. Being a leader is more so just who you are as a person. So for me, it was getting over that hump of "hey, you can still be a leader on this team, even though you're not seen as quote unquote, the man." And it has been great, because now I know wherever I go, because of my personal qualities and my core values, I can lead people just because of those. .

Meredith Aliff 

Yeah, absolutely. Well, I love that. So my last question for you. And I might know the answer, but I don't know. What is the best decision that you've ever made in college? Just one "Okay, let's do it" decision?

Orin Edwards 

I feel like there's a couple of decisions, in reality. One, not quitting football, continue to play. That was the first biggest decision that I made, more so in my life as a man, growing into who I am, and who I want to become. To grow, you kind of have to experience things that you're not so comfortable with. That was the first thing. Two, I will say joining a fraternity. It was a great decision for me, because it kind of opened up another door. Instead of my only pool of people or my only community that I'm around is the football team. Now I'm more so incorporated with the students on campus, because I'm in a fraternity now, and I think that gave me the opportunity to have more of a social life, and more so it's just another support system. They support my business, they support me mentally, they support me emotionally. Then obviously, three, starting my business, starting my business in power plates. That kind of gave me the opportunity to see what life is like as an entrepreneur, knowing the daily work that you have to put in, knowing how to delegate, because you have to delegate to elevate, and understand that you can't tell anyone else to do what you wouldn't expect yourself to do a million times over. I have a delivery driver, I have a cook now. I have someone who runs the financials. And that's great, because I have it all now. But on April 3, when we launched, I was cooking every night. I was delivering those orders. I was checking ... I was doing all the financials. So just like I said, with growth comes ... it just gets easier as you continue to grow. But you have to be willing to really put in the work. You have to prepare as hard as you want to win, essentially. So, yeah. I will say that. I might write that down too. "Prepare as hard as you want to win."

Meredith Aliff 

Absolutly. Put that down in the notes. Well, it was so nice meeting you, Orin. And thank you so much for coming in.

Orin Edwards 

You as well. Yes, super thank you you for having me.

Meredith Aliff 

Yeah, absolutely.

Orin Edwards 

This has been great.

Meredith Aliff 

Thanks. Okay. And now we're done!

Orin Edwards 

That was fun.

Meredith Aliff 

It's fun, right?

Meredith Aliff 

Orin Edwards is a member of the Miami Redhawks football team, who is also pursuing a degree in biology and Sports Leadership and Management. After graduation he plans to continue growing his business while considering a career path in the medical industry or dentistry.