Taking online courses at SCC
is so convenient, it even fits the schedule of a professional baseball player.
Lincoln native Jacob Kuebler
enrolled at SCC last fall when baseball season ended, and continued his studies
through the winter. He’s taking a break now while he pitches for the Sioux CityExplorers and will be hitting the books again in the fall.
“A large reason I went to SCC
is that the schedule works for me, it’s convenient.” Kuebler said.
This is Kuebler’s ninth
season playing professional baseball. He graduated from Lincoln Southeast High
School in 2008 and was drafted by the Kansas City Royals as a position player.
He then switched to pitching after the Mets organization signed him in 2013. He
played three years of Double-A ball with the Binghamton Mets.
He’s been in love with the
game of baseball since he was a little kid when his dad would take him to
Kansas City Royals games. His cousin, Alex Gordon, plays for the Royals.
“Ever since I was young, I
had sisters who played softball and my dad loved baseball, so it’s in the
blood,” Kuebler said.
Kuebler is an AcademicTransfer student. He wants to finish his two years at SCC, then transfer to a
four-year college to get a degree in teaching. He also wants to coach, since
sports has been such a big part of his life.
Taking online classes at SCC
has helped Kuebler manage his time with an inconsistent schedule, which
includes long days of travel and long nights of playing ball.
“It’s a very laid-out
schedule, instructors are very clear about what I have to do,” Kuebler said
about his online courses at SCC. “You have to make time for the deadlines you
have, and you make it work.”
After the season, Kuebler
will get married in Lincoln this fall and likely make his home in Nebraska. He
enjoys playing with the Sioux City Explorers because of its close proximity to
Lincoln. It’s his first year playing in the Independent Professional Baseball League.
“I’ve been on the West Coast,
East Coast, all over the country, and it’s an interesting perspective because
it’s not the Midwest,” he said. “But I’ve always wanted to come back to
Lincoln.”
At age 18, Kuebler was
traveling all over the country playing baseball, when his peers were going to
college. Now at age 26 he’s in college as a non-traditional-age student, but he
wouldn’t have done it any other way.
“I had to grow up pretty
quickly,” Kuebler said. “Now that I’m going back to school I think that has
helped me.”
Kuebler will travel to
Lincoln later this summer when the Explorers play the Lincoln Saltdogs Aug.
11-14.