As an athlete in the heptathlon and decathlon, Jacob Oostman ’25 must run the race, hurdle the obstacles, throw his best shot, and make every second count.
As a first-generation college student at Wabash, he must do the same.
If it hadn’t been for his jump, Jacob Oostman ’25 may have never made the leap to Wabash.
“I got recruited by Wabash early before all the COVID-19 stuff hit the fan,” Oostman says about his first connection to the College as a high jumper and long jumper at Crown Point 正规赌钱软件app School in northwest Indiana.
“I probably would not have found out about this place otherwise because college searching was hard during that time. I remember not wanting to come here. Then I came on a visit. I loved the small feel, everybody I talked to was awesome.”
An injury sidelined his jumping in high school. Chance introduced him to throwing events.
“One of my friends was a thrower,” says Oostman. “I was messing around at practice—it didn’t hurt me to throw—and my throw beat his. He said, ‘You need to throw.’ I thought, ‘Okay, cool. I’ll throw.’”
He competed in discus, shot put, high jump, and long jump as a high school senior. Then went to regionals in high jump, long jump, and discus. Then state for high jump.
“Going into college, my coaches put me in with the multies (track and field athletes that participate in the heptathlon and decathlon) to train, to get explosive, faster, and more technical with all my events. That’s how I ended up in the decathlon.”
Attending college was not a foregone conclusion for Oostman. He could have easily joined the many tradespeople in his family as a mechanic or an electrician, but his father saw his aptitude and love for math and numbers and encouraged him to think about college.
“My dad told me, ‘Do what you need to do to go do what you want to do in your future. You seem fit for college,’” he says.
“My parents were super supportive. They didn’t know a lot about college, but they were eager to learn with me. My mom was looking stuff up all the time and emailing and texting me, ‘Look at this, look at this. I don’t know what this is, but you should look at it.’ It was nice to have other people learning with me.”
Oostman admits there is a lot he didn’t know. So he asked.
“I had a very good college counselor in high school,” he says. “I went in her office one day and said, ‘I don’t know how to apply for a scholarship. I don’t even know how to apply to a school.’ She said, ‘Let’s start from ground zero.’”
He also had an internship with a financial advisor before his freshman year at Wabash who helped him look at potential classes and write his first cover letter and resume.
“Going into my freshman year, that really gave me a good foundation.”
Assistant Track and Field Coach Emile Conde says the sky is the limit for Oostman.
“He showed us his willingness to try different events, he put his trust in us as coaches because we saw something special there,” Conde says. “That shows a great deal of maturity. It was a discussion—he asked a lot of questions. He wants to know so he can do little things to make himself better. He’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever coached. I’m not just talking about track and field, but also in the classroom and in life.”
Professor of Economics Peter Mikek agrees.
“He is intelligent. He figures out connections—sometimes much faster than other students,” Mikek says of the financial economics major and psychology and religion minor. “He approaches learning with a sense of discovery.”
Oostman appreciates the links between his major and minor courses, but also the variety of teaching and learning approaches required for each.
“Econ and psychology are pretty related—interpreting factors of the world and how people act,” he says. “The markets are emotional, driven by people. The government could do something, but it really doesn’t matter unless the people react the way they’re ‘supposed to.’ And if they freak out, then you have to interpret what that means.”
“Financial economics is a comfort for me—going into class for 50 minutes, then remembering the stuff and talking about it after class with my classmates,” Oostman continues. “Then religion, a lot of those classes are discussions. ‘How do you think about this? How do you interpret this?’ There’s 50 minutes of straight-up conversation—the conversation skills and the critical thinking skills. It’s a different challenge for your brain.”
Oostman understands every person, conversation, event, and interaction shapes who he is and who he will become.
“I get my personality and drive from my parents,” he says. “My grandfather is witty, funny, caring, and loving towards people, and has a smile all the time. I try to base my life off that and be happy. Coach Conde taught me the grind. Professor Mikek’s teaching style is impactful. I’m pulling bits and pieces from everybody at Wabash. It’s this perfect little pool of people to base your life on how you should be and what you should do.
“I heard a line at a recent Chapel Talk, ‘Your job isn’t to make Wabash better for you. It’s to make Wabash better for the people coming after you,’” he continues. “As many things as you can implement, be a part of, and keep running. That’s what’s going to form the future for the next guys coming in.”
Mikek has witnessed Oostman doing just that.
“I can think of several occasions where he helped others out,” says Mikek. “He is not self-centered. He works very well in a team. He motivates other people.”
Conde sees similarities on the track and field.
“He’s one of those guys who can talk to anyone, find something in common with them, and instantly become friends,” Conde says. “He’s always laughing and always having a good time. Everybody likes him. He is a natural leader, and people want to follow him.”
Oostman knows it’s not about what he gains from his time on campus that is important.
“The effort I put back into Wabash is my biggest contribution,” he says.
As he begins his senior year, the Sphinx Club member and treasurer of Delta Tau Delta is not going to cruise to the finish. He hopes to expand the multies beyond track and field.
“Every day I want to do something Wabash offers that I have not taken advantage of in my first three years here,” Oostman says. “Whether it’s go to a lunch talk, play disc golf, or go to the play—there are so many things I could be doing. I want to do at least one thing a day my senior year. Then I can look back and know I really made the most of my final year.”