SENIOR FEATURE: CHARLIE VOLKER - GOALS ACHIEVED, GARDEN STATE PROUD

Somewhere in the Volker household, there is a small whiteboard that shows its age. It was once the spot where Charlie Volker would write down workouts for the brand new weight room in his new house. At the bottom of the whiteboard, Volker wrote down one goal that would serve as constant motivation. It lived on that board so long that those five words are now impervious to any cleaning product: Play Football At Princeton University. Most develop that goal at some point during the recruiting process. Some figure it out as soon as their high school careers begin. Volker was 12. It would be the first of many goals realized in Orange and Black. Volker's love for Princeton University began early in his childhood, when his grandfather would take him to Baker Rink to watch Tiger hockey games. One of four children in a sports-loving family, Volker played anything and everything, though football was always his first passion. He earned all-state honors at Rumson-Fair Haven after ranking second in New Jersey with 2,108 rushing yards on 278 carries, a career that brought more than a fair share of colleges knocking on his door. Volker was, as he says, "polite" to them. "I tried to be polite to the other schools, and my mom even got mad at me at one point for putting all my eggs in one basket, as she said," Volker said. "I was super confident that [Princeton] was the place for me. There was never a doubt in my mind. My mom would chalk that up as being naïve or immature, but as soon as I started writing that up as my goal … it just became clear that this was where I had to go." Volker didn't just put his eggs in one basket; he chose one of the most selective baskets in the bunch. His pedigree in both the classroom and on the football field wasn't just enough to get him into that basket, but it also drew him even more interest than he may have anticipated.