Dakota Lund

Student

Though he is majoring in Marketing, Bay College freshman Dakota Lund started taking classes at Bay for another reason entirely. He decided to attend the school to join the Bay College Norse baseball team.

“I’m from Utah, so I went to a school called Fremont High,” he said.

Dakota graduated from high school in 2019. That fall, he planned to attend college at a school in North Dakota – but he ended up leaving almost immediately and taking a gap year instead.

“They didn’t have my dorm ready. Trying to get a hotel room for a week would have been super-expensive, so I said, ‘I’m good,’” he said.

For years, Dakota has dreamed of becoming a baseball player on the college level.

“I wanted to play college baseball ever since I was 5 or 6,” he said.

According to Dakota, Bay got onto his radar due to its sports program – and the value it provided.

“I emailed a bunch of schools to play baseball, and then these guys gave me a fee waiver to come here (and) get in-state tuition,” he said.

During the fall 2020 semester, Dakota took online classes at Bay while living in Utah. He came to Escanaba for the winter 2021 semester.

Unfortunately, Dakota has not yet been able to play on Bay’s baseball team this semester due to medical issues. He was quarantined due to a fever he had when he arrived in Escanaba; later, he ran into another problem.

“I developed a kidney infection, and that just kind of kept me there,” he said, noting he lost about 20 pounds over the course of two or three weeks as a result of the infection.

Though he has attended a few practices, Dakota is unsure whether or not he will play with the Norse during the current season. Depending on how things progress, he may play on the team this spring or head home early to continue his recovery while continuing to take Bay College classes online.

“It’s still kind of up in the air,” he said.

While attending classes at Bay, Dakota has been able to explore another passion of his – business and marketing. He said his choice of a major was sparked by his participation in DECA as a high school student.

“I got involved with it and went to a couple competitions,” he said.

So far, his studies at Bay have been going very well.

“This current term, I’m having my best academic term ever in college or high school,” Dakota said.

In the future, Dakota is hoping to attend Saint Michael’s College in Colchester, Vermont – a school with a Division II baseball team. He said he has actually received an athletic scholarship to this college, but that he will need to have a GPA of at least 3.2 to go there.

“It just all depends on where my grades are,” he said.

Even if his athletic journey does not continue beyond Bay, Dakota has big plans for his future.

“If baseball doesn’t work out, I would really like to get into marketing,” he said.

Specifically, Dakota is interested in working or interning at a marketing firm before establishing his own firm or starting another business.

In any case, Dakota has appreciated his time at Bay.

“I wish I could experience it without COVID … but I like it so far. I’d recommend it,” he said.