I always told him that his ability to tell a wide range of stories came from the losses because that is when he exercised very descriptive language!” Steve’s football coach, Brian McMahon, tells “AT AN AGE WHEN WE this story: “The final game of the season was against Vermont Academy. WERE OFTEN AFRAID We had been winless against VA for TO BE OUR AUTHENTIC many years. Few people could recall the last time we beat our archrivals. In SELVES OUT OF FEAR 2001, however, the seniors on the team OF RIDICULE AND were able to walk off the field knowing REJECTION, STEVEN they had accomplished what no KUA team in recent history had been able to HAD NO SUCH FEARS.” do. Looking at Steve, you would have thought we had won the Super Bowl! I still remember that day as if it were yesterday.” Steven with Dexter-Richards dorm-mates during Winter Carnival
Surprisingly, Sotloff wasn’t satisfied with only one heavy contact sport; in his senior year, he went out for rugby. Brian reports:
He loved everything rugby—the hard work, the discipline, the pain, and of course, Match Day. A caption in Steven’s yearbook states, ‘Rugby is Life.’ In one year, Steve went from newbie to old pro. But that is Steve. He was always looking for the next challenge. He was not only a thinker, but also a doer. The most salient and oft-mentioned of Steven’s qualities, however, is his compassion. Saeger Philpot states: “I remember him as an incredibly kind, inquisitive, and unique individual. At an age when we were often afraid to be our authentic selves out of fear of ridicule and rejection, Steven had no such fears. He marched to the beat of his own drum and was a friend to everyone. I can only hope I live my life with half as much passion.”
Steven (second from left) participates in KUA’s traditional Mountain Day 8
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