Welcome to the newest RWU Athletics weekly feature, Alumni Profiles. Here we will be featuring a former Roger Williams student-athlete and catching up with them on their career since graduating from RWU.
 
Our latest entry comes from Collin Crowell. Collin was a four-year member of the Wrestling team and graduated from RWU in 2014 as a Computer Engineering Major. A four-time regional placer, he was named the New England Rookie Wrestler of the Year in freshman year and a regional champion in his junior year. He was a three-time NCAA Championship qualifier for the Hawks, and in his senior year, he was named an NCAA All-American after placing eighth at the 165-pound weight class. In addition. he was a two-time RWU Male Athlete of the Year, a two-time NWCA Scholar All-American, and finished his career with 117 wins. What is your current job title and what does that entail?
I am a Full Stack Software Engineer for Klaviyo. Klaviyo builds software to help tens of thousands of e-commerce companies have engaging relationships with hundreds of millions of consumers. My responsibility as an engineer is to create and own features that our customers rely on daily to reach their consumers and drive their business forward. The team I'm part of works on massively parallelized, highly scalable, real-time and near-real-time data pipelines that bidirectionally sync data with 3rd-party systems. I'm constantly pushing myself to become a better engineer and to level up my peers within my team and within Klaviyo.
 
How did your athletic involvement at RWU help you in the path that you chose following graduation?
Collegiate athletics have taught me a lot of valuable development skills that I've been able to apply to my career and my education after graduation. While at RWU, I was able to achieve year over year growth in my sport. I attribute this growth to my coaches and teammates, who helped me build a great work ethic and pushed me to accomplish my goals. I was able to build confidence along the way and become a better leader. Since graduating, I've been able to use these skills to better myself and achieve personal and career goals.
 
What would you say were your greatest athletic and academic accomplishments during your time at RWU?
My greatest athletic accomplishment was becoming an All-American wrestler during my senior year and my greatest academic accomplishment was being named a two-time NWCA Scholar All-American.
 
Why did you choose to attend RWU?
I liked problem solving and math, so I knew I wanted to study engineering in college. After finishing my high school wrestling career on a loss (placing 2nd in New England), I figured I wasn't ready to be done with wrestling. RWU had a great wrestling program combined with an impressive School of Engineering, so it was a perfect match. Touring the beautiful campus and talking to other students sealed the deal.
 
Were you involved in any extracurricular activities outside of athletics?
I was not. Looking back now, I would have liked to get more involved with other activities and programs RWU had to offer.
 
What piece of advice would you have for current RWU student-athletes?
The bond you create with your teammates is very special. While at RWU, push yourself and your teammates in both your sport and in academics. The ability to motivate others translates very well into most careers.
 

---

Are you a former RWU student-athlete interested in being part of our Alumni Profile series? If so, please contact Athletic Communication Director at nwilliams@rwu.edu for more information!