Joey Alfieri, the student …
What is your major?
"My major is management science and engineering. It's an interdisciplinary major that combines aspects of many different fields -- computer science, physics, electrical engineering, mathematics. I'm really interested in all subjects."
Does that give you some options for the future?
"Yes. This summer, I interned at a commercial real estate firm in Palo Alto. Blake Martinez interned there before, he was an MS&E major as well. There are former MS&E guys working there from Stanford. It's cool. I like the major."
What has been your favorite class?
"It was one of the hardest, but one of my favorites. It's called MS&E 111. Optimization. It involves taking information from, say, a scarce resource and figuring out how to optimize the best-case solution. A factory can only make a certain amount of material, you have this amount of money, and it costs this much to make each thing. How much do you spend?"
What is the most interesting paper you've written?
"I wrote an entire paper on why Tony Soprano is a good guy. I took a summer class called the Ethical Gangster, about the morals of mobs. We watched videos of The Sopranos, Goodfellas, The Departed, The Godfather, and talked about the different ethical rules they developed within those groups. It's the anti-hero, like Walter White in Breaking Bad. For some reason, the audience roots for him."
Joey Alfieri, the athlete …
Does having big-game experience help you?
"That definitely helps. Having been there before and knowing no moment's too big. Stick to your coaching and how you've trained. That's what you fall back to in those high-pressure situations -- your training. If you form good habits, that will be your baseline."
Was Blake Martinez, now in the NFL, a mentor?
"He's definitely a great mentor. I've talked to him a lot. Last spring, I moved from outside linebacker to inside and I started focusing a lot more on Blake. I'm watching him on film and reached out to him and talked to him about the transition. He's been really helpful, giving me advice on plays and the kind of mentality you have to have as an inside linebacker."
Why are you a good fit for the inside?
"I can run sideline to sideline using my athleticism a lot more than when I'm up on the line, going against a 250-pound tackle."
What advice would you give to succeed in sports and academics?
"Don't focus too much on one sport, even if you think you have a future there. Play as many sports as you can, take as many classes as you can. Don't be afraid to take summer school. I took summer school when I was in high school just because I liked math."