Orcas, colloquially known as "killer whales", are known for consuming a wide array of foods. Reed Campbell, Bard's standout junior athlete across men's soccer and track, has a similar way of consuming information, including about his favorite animal, the orca, that helped set him on his career path.

"Ever since I was little I've always had this fascination with orcas," Campbell said. "It's just always something I've really enjoyed. And I remember doing presentations on orcas back in elementary school, middle school, so it's always been my favorite animal. And so, that infatuation with just that one organism kind of moved into more of this biology-focused education now."

That education has led Campbell to rare heights already, with the Newington, CT native receiving a Goldwater Scholarship in April, one of just 508 students in the country to do so,  given to STEM students pursuing their work at a high level of excellence. But Campbell is more of a process over rewards person anyway, something his soccer coach, TJ Kostecky, sees in the way he approaches life on and off the field.

Whether it is Campbell's play as a forward for the Raptors in his three years with the team, his love of science or even his longtime attachment to the French horn, an instrument he's played with distinction dating back to his four years of all-state orchestra in Connecticut, Campbell views every opportunity as a problem to solve. It was something that really resonated for Kostecky when he saw Campbell perform recently in the Bard Community Orchestra, which has the rare privilege of playing at the Fisher Center.

"When you're in those environments, as a musician, as someone who was studying and researching and looking at data, you have to be very cognizant and very good at taking the little things and applying them to the bigger picture," Kostecky said of Campbell. "In terms of soccer, he's the same way. He looks at the game, the way that it should be looked at, where if we have a good process — which our process has gotten better here, [along] with the quality of the players that we continue to bring in, and our culture, which I believe is extremely strong. And when you put all those things together, what happens is you start getting results and performing well, and then getting the results that you really have earned."

And so it began when Reed's parents, Gayle and Ryan, signed Reed up for micro league soccer, first and second graders running around a Connecticut field on Saturday mornings. Reed loved it, though, and when Reed Campbell loves something, he pursues it, period.

"I didn't necessarily have a goal of playing collegiately when I was really little and playing," Campbell said. "I think that first started materializing more in high school. But as I moved from the micro soccer level to travel soccer — in doing that I was always very eager to go to practice, go to games and so I think that's where that eagerness to always want to play and always want to practice came from. That's where I really started to develop a love for the game."

Both Campbell and Kostecky described him as a quiet leader, but he's obviously someone who the team respects. When he does speak up, his teammates listen. Campbell remembers the moment he saw a way his fellow Raptor, Sam Gerber, could make a more effective run, and told him so — the feeling of pride he had in that moment, seeing his advice be listened to and work.

And the team is built, Kostecky said, around people with minds like Campbell's — where soccer matters, but soccer is not the only thing that matters. It was something the uber-successful coach, who has won at every stop of his career, was coming to appreciate about what it takes to find not just an athlete, but a Bard athlete, when he received an email of interest from Campbell in the Fall of 2020.

"Trying to find the right type of person that would thrive at Bard was my mission," Kostecky said. "And what jumped out was that he played the French horn. He had a variety of interests. He was interested in history, science, biology specifically. And what I came to learn about Bard, by that time, is that Bard attracts students that have interests and talents in various fields, academic fields, and those that essentially are well-rounded. and have passions for various, diverse areas of interest succeed here. So when I saw that in his email, I was excited."
It didn't hurt that in the video attached, Campbell was a crafty attacker, dangerous going forward with the ball.

But it is that meeting of person and place that has made Bard such a great fit for Campbell. He said he really didn't face any adjustment period after arriving on campus in the Fall of 2021, quickly falling into a routine of soccer practice and playing in the community orchestra on Monday nights — members of the local community and advanced Bard Conservatory members alike, producing the sound of Dvorak's seventh symphony — Campbell's favorite — floating out the window of Olin Hall as the sun sets in Annandale-on-Hudson. 

He soon found his academic passion, too, taking a course called Case Studies in Medical Microbiology with Professor Brooke Jude, and coming to understand that he wants to pursue an advanced degree in marine biology. Not in academia — he wants to go into research, to look for solutions to problems the way he always has.

His appetite for life is as orca-like as ever, whether it is his leadership in volunteering with the Ramapo for Children program, a local organization for neuro divergent children, leading the Bard men's soccer efforts, along with Dylan Kotlowitz and Gavin Hersey over the past two seasons, or his studies abroad, which have taken him to the Netherlands and University College Roosevelt this semester.

But he'll be back on campus in the fall, looking ahead to one final season to continue to pursue his passions. Stroll around the campus and you'll encounter his impact everywhere you go, including a soccer team that's improved its record in each of the three years of Campbell's time at Bard, with even bigger goals in 2024-25. Bard has embraced Campbell, and Campbell stands ready to do the same for Bard men's soccer.

""He's a leader because of his approachability," Kostecky said. And also, he's got real high empathy and compassion skills… guys that like to think have that in general. And he reminds guys that he's there to support them. And that's a really important part of sport — is to have teammates that support you."