Senior Travis Manger (Newtown, Pa.) just concluded his academic career at Temple University. The tight end has shared his thoughts about classes ending, final exams, and graduation over the last two weeks. This is his final blog of the series.

May 23, 2008

Our team chaplain, Terry Hill, recently handed me the latest edition of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes magazine, Sharing the Victory. I read a quote in one of the stories that has stuck in my mind.

"If people don't laugh at your dreams, you're not dreaming big enough." It's fair to say that quote is the theme of this final blog.

GRADUATION. We talking about graduation. I sound like Allen Iverson. I can't believe I'm sitting here writing this, and I just went through commencement. The commencement ceremonies yesterday were a lot fun to take part in. The university commencement held in the Liacouras Center was an unforgettable experience. A lot of Temple students don't participate in this ceremony, instead preferring to only participate in the ceremonies that each college performs. This is unfortunate, and it usually happens because most students can't get enough tickets for all of their family members. I know several people who didn't participate in the main commencement because of that reason. Personally, I had to scrounge just to find one additional ticket so that my grandparents could come.

Everybody was wondering if Bill Cosby was going to show up?! Well, I'm happy to report that Cosby did indeed show up. Cosby has been a supporter of Temple football for a long time, and has shown his face around Edberg-Olson on more than one occasion. He even had a Temple football t-shirt on under his gown yesterday. Many people don't know that he actually played football for Temple way back in the day.

Christopher Wink was the student speaker. He gave a passionate, very eloquent speech about what it means to be a Temple graduate. His words probably best described the Temple experience. To summarize, he talked of not just graduating from this excellent university, but from the communities around it. I think that's so true. You don't just come here and leave this university, you leave the communities as well. Another speaker echoed a sentiment that I have felt for three years, and that is that you don't just graduate and THEN enter the real world. Temple is the real world. For better or worse, everyday, this place gives you real life experiences that you will take with you for the rest of your life.

During the university commencement, each school stood and was recognized. I'm proud to say that the School of Communication and Theater (SCAT) that I proudly stood with was the loudest and rowdiest of all the schools when it was our turn to be recognized. Let's just say we had the most "confetti" and we gave ourselves the longest ovation, borderline on refusing to sit down and infringing on the next schools turn! Sorry.

The ceremony for SCAT was held in the Student Pavilion. This ceremony allowed for every student to be recognized by walking across the stage. The cool thing was that within my college were some friends that I've known since third grade, and others that I became friends with when I got to Temple. The main speaker was Ray Didinger, which was an absolute thrill for me. Didinger, a fellow SCAT graduate, is widely renowned as one of the best football sportswriters in America. He covered the Philadelphia Eagles for a long time and is know a regular on "Eagles Postgame Live" on Comcast SportsNet. I love listening to him because of his calm reassuring nature, especially how he deals with unruly Eagles fans who want McNabb or Coach Reid gone after having one bad game or one bad play call.

Both ceremonies were coordinated well, and they actually didn't take as long I expected, which is always a plus. After the ceremony my family had to go right home unfortunately. I ended up going out to dinner with my roommate Chuck and his family, and I am thankful and grateful to them for allowing me to tag along. We went to Maggiano's at 13th and Filbert Street in Center City. Let's just say I'm just now starting to get hungry again because we ate so much!

Coach Al Golden with (L to R) Travis Manger, Marcques Henderson, and Abioye Oyeyemi at 2008 graduation.

Yesterday was such a special day. It didn't really hit me until I started writing this. Yesterday will probably have more importance later on in life when I look back at it. It's exciting, yet weird, to say "Temple alum." Well, not quite; I could always fail Yoga! Just kidding. That would probably be really hard to do too.

By tomorrow my house at Temple should be cleaned out. It should be, but it probably won't. Although I've said we're all moving out, there's a small chance we could be staying, meaning I wouldn't have to spend a few months living at home! That would be nice, and we'll see what happens. I will say that if decide to stay tomorrow, I'll be bringing home a dog on Monday! Ha, at least I can dream. We'll see about that Jeep Wrangler, too.

I was asked in my final entry to detail my plans for my life after college. That's such a hard thing to do. One of my favorite professors that I had at Temple, Larry Stains, told me this morning actually that "if you know what you're doing with your life when you graduate, you're missing the show." I think that's so true. If I could have a nickel for every plan I made for after college, I wouldn't have to work, I could just retire to my dream beachfront or mountain home. I graduated with a degree in journalism, with a specification in the magazine sequence. Writing is something that I love and eventually want to do. I've always said I eventually want to write a book, maybe two. I absolutely plan on doing it one day, However, I don't know what it will be on. I may try some freelancing writing in the upcoming months to make a little money on the side. If I ever was to be lucky enough to write for a magazine, I'd want to write for a sports, outdoor, or health-related magazine. Writing is such a useful life skill to have, something I plan on doing later in life.

Coaching is the profession that I see myself entering. I spent this past spring semester down in the football facility when I wasn't in class. It was a great learning experience for me to go through spring practice, especially being able to see it all from a different perspective. I'm basically looking to keep doing the same thing for the 2008 season AND the bowl game. I'm in the perfect position here, because I get to learn from a youthful coaching staff, a staff where all the coaches will probably be head coaches for the first time or for the second time within five years. These coaches also know their stuff; they have to be one of the most knowledgeable staffs around. Also, I'd never forgive myself if I left this year and wasn't around for the best season in Temple football in the past 25 years.

Once the season is over, I'm looking to land a graduate assistant job somewhere. Whether it's at Temple or elsewhere won't be determined for awhile. Firstly, I have to do a good enough job over the next few months to earn one of the spots here. Secondly, landing one of these jobs is tough because of how competitive they are. Most schools fill these spots with former players or people that they have connections to. I do have some schools in mind though. It's like applying to college all over again; I have some schools that are reaches that would take a lot for me to land a job at one of them, and I have schools that I think my chances are a little better of landing a job at. Academics also play a role in this. Fortunately, I've done well enough academically as an undergraduate that I don't think I'll have a terribly hard time getting in somewhere. If I'm lucky enough to stay here for a couple more years, then I'm going to make the best of it and have a blast. If I'm lucky enough to go north, south, or west, then I'm going to make the best of that opportunity too. Wherever God blesses me to be is where I'm going to be happy. Obviously, I have my preferences, but there are so many variables involved.

I really only have two goals in coaching: one day to head coach the Temple Owls to a national championship, and to head coach the Philadelphia Eagles. These goals really shouldn't be a shock to anyone who knows me. I don't see any reason why Temple can't one day get to the national championship game. Yeah, it's lofty, but look at what this university is becoming. This football program reflects the growth and change in attitude of the university as a whole. It is the growth in the university and the exponentially growing potential of this football program that makes it so easy for me to volunteer for the next six months while many of my friends start their first jobs. Besides, I should be paying these coaches for the stuff I'm going to be learning in the next six months. I can't think of a better internship than this. It's just too bad I couldn't get college credit for it. I just want and need an opportunity to learn and to prove a work ethic. Eventually I do want to get into the NFL, but that's so far down the road it's not funny. Whether it was operations or player personal or whatever it would take to get my foot in the NFL door, I'm willing to do. I'd get Andy Reid his coffee everyday, too.

I'm also going to be playing some baseball this summer when time permits. Saying I miss playing baseball would be an understatement. It will be fun to get on the mound and see if I have anything left. It's been a good three years since I last pitched, and probably about six years since I last pitched competitively. I had a good fastball in the mid-80s back then, and who knows, maybe it's jumped up a couple miles per hour. It would take a miracle for anything serious to materialize out of it, but stranger things have happened. I do wonder sometimes what college would have been like for me had I played baseball and not football, although I absolutely don't regret my decision at all. I view this summer as my last chance to play baseball, because I don't think I'll have the time any summer after this one. If something ended up happening, it would be an absolute dream come true.

I'm looking to do a lot of traveling when the time permits over the next couple of months and years while I'm young. Granted, the nature of the coaching profession will allow me to get my fill of traveling; most of the coaches here have lived all over the country from California to Georgia to Michigan to Virginia. That aspect doesn't faze me, although I'm saying that when I'm 22, single, and have no kids. That may change when I'm 28 and married with kids. The very first travel destination that is an absolutely requirement for me is Germany. I can't even describe how bad I want to go there. I really would like to get a picture of myself in the small village of Reichenbach. Reichenbach is a small village south of Berlin and west of Dresden and it's where my father's side of the family is from. Seeing it would be just too amazing. I also would love to get to Oktoberfest, but that's in the middle of football season, so that may have to wait awhile. I would also love to tour World War II monuments in Germany and around Europe, especially the beaches of Normandy, the Bastogne region in Belgium that the 101st Airborne defended, and Berchtesgarden in the Bavarian Alps. Seeing the Dachau Concentration Camp is also something I really want to do.

In a couple of weeks one of my best friends, Mark, is driving across the country. Along the way he's going to be hiking and mountain biking in various state and national parks along the way. He's beginning the journey by driving to the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. From there, he's driving to New Orleans, and then straight across Louisiana and Texas to New Mexico. It is in New Mexico that I'm looking to meet up with him to take part in some of the journey. The way it looks now, I may only be able to join him for five or six days, but I think it's absolutely worth it. The first day I'd be there we'd be entering Arizona and climbing Mt. Humphrey, the largest peak in Arizona, from which we'll be able to see the Grand Canyon 70 miles away. Apparently it's about an eight-hour climb, but I think I've been through enough Temple toughness's to handle it! From there we'd head up to Utah and possibly go rafting and more hiking. It's a trip I'm definitely trying to get involved with, and it looks as if it may be feasible. I'll also be taking smaller trips to two Civil War battlefields: Gettysburg and Antietam. I haven't been to Gettysburg in about 10 years, and I've never been to Antietam, so I'm really looking forward to that trip.

I thank God for blessing me with the opportunity to be a Temple football player. I believe that being a Division 1 athlete makes you grow. If you're not a man when you enter it, then you will definitely be one when you leave. That's how it should be. I couldn't have imagined going to college anywhere else. I was lucky enough to come here with multiple friends that I grew up with, but I was also lucky enough to meet new friends that will now be lifelong friends. Wherever the good Lord takes me, I'm sure I'll join a regional Temple alumni club; like the bumper sticker says, Temple Owls are everywhere! Hopefully I can just make Temple proud someday. If I can get my name in the media guide as a notable Temple alum, I'll be happy!

I hope you all get out to Lincoln Financial Field this fall to cheer on the Owls. I truly believe this is going to be a special season. It'll be different wearing a Temple polo and khaki's on the sidelines instead of a helmet and a number 85 jersey, that's for sure. If you can't get out to the game or you're living far away, I hope you'll catch the six or seven times we're on television this fall as well, especially the UConn game on September 6th on ESPNU and the October 21st game versus Ohio on ESPN 2. We will also be playing at Army on August 29th on either ESPNU or ESPN Classic, as well as a game at Kent State on Nov. 12th on ESPN 2. Owls fans will have an unprecedented chance to follow this coming season in person or on television. I sincerely hope to see you all in the stands this fall. Don't forget to wear your Jus"T"ice shirts to the UConn game, too! I'd love to see a white out with everyone wearing those shirts, but that's just me.

I hope you all have enjoyed reading this blog as much as I have enjoyed writing it. It's been a fun experience for me. I don't think I've ever been this open about my life, but I think it's a good thing. I've had fun, and the feedback I've gotten has been amazing. The subtle jokes at the hands of coaches, teammates, and friends have been even better; you all know who you are! I see truly amazing things happening to this university and to this football program in the upcoming years. I hope you all do too!

Until September 6th at Lincoln Financial Field, Owl fans: Fight Fight Fight for the Cherry and the White

- Travis Manger

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, POP POP, 90 full years of life, and I can only hope to get there one day!