Dalton Schultz, the student …
What is your major?
"Science, technology and society. I've structured it in such a way that it's the closest thing to game design. I'm interested in developing video games, on the coding side or the design side. I've hand-picked a bunch of classes and ran it by the head of our department, and she approved them. There's not a game-design major here, so I made my own."
How have you designed your schedule?
"I'm taking computer science classes to get the programming side of it down. I've done a lot of management science and engineering courses, just to get the project manager role down. I've done some communication classes as well, just to touch on the marketing side.
"There are some classes that focus on video game development. One was Music 257: Neuroplasticity and Musical Gaming. You make different games using different senses. For the final project, a partner and I developed a video game by making those wing suits and created a virtual reality game using those controls.
"In another, we fully developed a video game. We had an art team, a writing team, a programming team. We had to do our bits and throw them all together, which was honestly super challenging, even in a group of 12-13. That was cool just to get a taste of what it would be like working in a small studio. Those classes were definitely my favorites."
Dalton Schultz, the athlete …
Does any program use the tight end like Stanford?
"In the land of the spread offense, it's one of the endangered species."
Does the way the position in played here take advantage of your skill set?
"The tight ends of the past -- Zach Ertz, Levine Toilolo, Coby Fleener -- paved the way for me. They're the three who caught my attention and got me interested in looking at a place like Stanford. Once they've got your interest, you're pretty much caught.
"I was raised as a lineman. I was a lineman all my life until I was 14. I love run-blocking. There is a quote, 'There's no greater feeling than moving a man from point A to point B against his will.' I think that's so true. I mean, it's a style I've always grown up playing. I was lucky enough to go from a decent youth program into a great high school program and had great coaches who always ingrained run-first. Those values weren't too far from Stanford's values. It was an easy transition, an easy fit, something I've known all my life."
When your football career is over, do you see yourself being a pro video-game player?
"Yeah, there is money in it, but I'd do it because I love it. Obviously, I have my priorities in life, but when I'm not taking care of the most important ones, I'm playing video games."
