TYLER - Alex Bishop is the quintessential student athlete. In addition to leading the UT Tyler baseball team to their first ever NCAA Division III World Series appearance, Bishop also just graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering. How he manages the demands of being a collegiate athlete and student are quite admirable.
“Probably the biggest thing I’ve learned from time management is don’t waste the extra time you have,” stated Bishop. A typical day for Alex consists of going to his classes, study hall, and then hours of baseball practice. Something that can make for an exhausting day. “It’s easy to come back from practice and just want to chill out and relax for a little bit, but you got to minimize that and kind of push through it.”
Bishop has aspirations of going into aerospace engineering, and performing projects in outer space. This particular passion was inspired from an unlikely source. “It’s funny. I watched a show on Netflix once that made me ask a lot of questions about what’s out there and how to know more about it. It’s always interesting to get into that exploration,” Bishop stated.
On the baseball field, Bishop gets the job done as well. Bishop is batting .323 and leads the team with 8 home runs and 50 RBIs. “Alex is such a great kid. Hard worker. Very intelligent kid,” stated head baseball coach Brent Porche. “On top of that, he’s a great player for us. So he kind of has it all.”
But there is one thing Alex doesn’t have…his American citizenship. Alex grew up Canada, and was given the opportunity to play in the U.S. by former Patriots head baseball coach Chris Bertrand.
Now that Alex has graduated from UT Tyler, he hopes to stay in the U.S. “I’m trying to find a job in Dallas right now. I got an extension on my visa that allows me to work for a couple extra years. That’s the number one plan right now.”
Wherever he ends up, Bishop has one goal in mind. “Have a fun happy life. Do whatever I can. Work hard and just try to better society with my degree.”
Alex plans to obtain his master’s degree eventually, but for now he’s more excited to get a job as soon as possible and gain some experience.