Story by University of Minnesota Crookston University Relations
Last fall Ethan Johnson started thinking about law school. This fall, he took the entrance exam and is applying for gap year employment. Johnson, a senior double major in business management and communication, always thinks ahead.
He started swinging golf clubs when he was 10 years old growing up in Roseau and played through high school. He was offered a scholarship to play for the Golden Eagles, and after visiting the University of 
Minnesota Crookston he knew it was the place for him.
As an early teen, Johnson started officiating basketball games, and once in college, took the training and continues to officiate on a full varsity schedule. He also manages the officials for intramurals on campus. In the summer, he runs his own painting business.
If all this activity wasn’t enough for the conscientious senior, Johnson serves as the representative to the Student Senate Consultative Committee (SSCC). He meets monthly with representatives from the system campuses to go over resolutions and determine which of them need to go to the Student Senate.
With a keen interest in politics, Johnson helped bring several legislators to campus last spring and hopes to do something similar next spring. “It was a great chance for us to talk about what matters to the students on our campus,” Johnson explains. “We are a big system and each of the campuses is different and our concerns are not always the same.”
It is no surprise that the legal environment in business class has been one of his favorites. Taught by Judge Tamara Yon, Johnson enjoys her teaching style, her real-life examples, and the way she allows students to absorb what she teaches and ask questions before moving on in a lecture.
He recognizes the value of being involved on campus and its importance in connecting students to one another and to faculty, staff, and the community. “One of the most valuable things about going to school here is that if you just try to be involved, there are an absurd number of opportunities here for students,” he says. “All you have to do is try and you will find something.”
The other aspect he enjoys about the Crookston campus is knowing someone in every single class.
Right now, he and his golf teammates are getting ready for their fall tournaments. With a split schedule, Johnson will have four or five tournaments this fall and four or five in the spring including the conference tournament.
“Golf has taught me to prioritize,” he reflects. “As an athlete, and especially a golfer, you have to invest, work hard, and then, not beat yourself up when it doesn’t go your way. Golf is a head game.”
Whether he is officiating, playing golf, or serving on SSCC, it is a sense of fairness that matters to Johnson. He places a high priority on working ethically and fairly in everything he does. Maybe that is what his high school teachers saw in him and recommended he consider law.
Whether he decides law school is for him or he chooses something completely different, Johnson will bring his best to everything he does in the game of life.
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