Run Code – Honors student Kyler Little excels in the classroom and on the track

As a student-athlete, Kyler Little excels in the classroom and on the track, and he’s active in his campus community.

But, he admits, it’s not as easy as it looks.

“It can be a lot sometimes,” said Little, a senior studying computer science, “I can go a little too hard just because I like to do a lot with my time. Trying to participate in all these clubs along with athletics can sometimes be difficult.”

Little has always done a lot with his time, and it shows. After graduating from Lake City High School in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho as salutatorian, he continued to find success in and outside of the classroom at Washington State University. He has been named to the Pac-12 All Academic First Team three times, is a recipient of the Boeing Outstanding Senior Scholarship, and Contributed to a NASA Space Grant.

As a member of WSU’s track team and cross country team, he trains throughout the school year. His best event is the 3000-meter Steeplechase, but he also runs the 1500, 3000, and 5000-meter races.

Little is also involved with the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) as event coordinator. Recently, he coordinated an event to help students prepare for job interviews. He is also planning this spring’s CrimsonCode Hackathon, along with Hack Washington, which will be the first-ever collegiate hackathon held in the space needle.

Managing the Work Load

To manage his busy schedule, Little has to manage his time well. He plans his days to the hour—including making sure that he gets at least eight hours of sleep every night. Sometimes in spite of pressing deadline, he still just sets everything aside and goes to bed.

“It can wait,” he tells himself. “Somehow it will have to wait.”

You’re Not Alone

Little admits that he has felt overwhelmed at times and has had to get better at dealing with his stress. In high school, he bottled up his feelings, and sometimes the stress made him physically ill.

Having time to relax, reaching out to his friends for support, and seeing people on a regular basis is important for his health he says.

“We’re a family here at WSU, he said. “You can reach out to pretty much anybody and they will be willing to help you. Having that sort of environment is huge.”

When stress piled up, Little has also sought help through counseling.

“It helps a lot,” he said. “Just having someone to talk to makes a huge difference.”

Advice for Freshmen

While managing a busy schedule can be tough, Little advises freshmen to get involved in extracurricular activities. There is such a limited time in college, so students should take advantage of their opportunities.

Little initially started college as a physics major, and during his sophomore year, he got the chance to work on a NASA research project. During this experience, he became less interested in the research and decided to build his own computer program to test the theory instead. In doing so, he found his passion.

Little is most interested in software engineering and machine learning and aspires to start his own business someday.

“Spending time doing things outside of class like clubs, volunteering, work, and research has really shaped my experience here,” he said. “These opportunities can change not only your experience in college, but also what you want to do after college—it can have a pretty profound impact.”

Originally posted at the Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture