Falcon Of The Week: Ted Datanagan

This CB Junior strives for excellence in all facets of life.

“It was a whole new experience for me — it wasn’t like any sport. It wasn’t physical at all. It was all mental. You studied and studied and there wasn’t any workout you could do to prepare yourself for the mental fatigue you would feel after.”

Three months ago, Ted Datanagan (’14) made a decision that changed his life. He chose to join the Christian Brothers Academic Decathlon team — which requires hard work and dedication.

A committed student athlete, Ted was able to join the team because Academic Decathlon does not conflict with the water polo season.

After joining the team, Ted soon found his niche — interviewing. The academic decathlon interview, which is seven to ten minutes long, asks students what they see as success and prompts them to describe themselves. The students are then judged on content and how they control themselves during the interview.

During the Sacramento Region Academic Decathlon competition, the dedicated student received a silver medal in the interview section.

“[Academic Decathlon] taught me that with hard work, anything is possible,” Ted told the Talon.

Although he has already proved his skill on the Decathlon team, Ted hopes to improve even more for next year. In addition to the interview, he wishes to compete in the speech section, where students are asked to prepare a three to four minute speech.

Besides Academic Decathlon, this junior spends much of his time playing water polo or helping others.

“I find myself giving back to the community,” he said. “I do service in soup kitchens and help little children at Sunday school.”

Its no doubt that Ted is a successful addition to the CB Academic Decathlon team. With his help, they were able to take 9th place out of 22 teams in Sacramento. Whether its in the pool or in the interviewing room, Ted is an impressive and dedicated Falcon.