Hawk Lindner '26 (above, left) was always destined to be a Saint. His aunt and uncle knew it since he was a kid, and Hawk knows it now – it just took him a while to come around.
Think of Rocket League as soccer morphed with monster truck rally. Slick, rocket-powered cars dodge explosions while blasting shots toward their opponent's goal. The video game is fast, chaotic, and gloriously absurd. Lindner is among the top Rocket League players in the MAAC.
"There are some players in the conference who are better mechanically than me, and there are some who can pull off fancy tricks. But I'm solid. I'll always make the open shot."
Lindner helped Siena to a second place finish in Rocket League at the MAAC Championships this spring at the Contender eSports Gaming Center in Wappingers Falls, NY. Next year, he'll run for vice president of Siena's eSports Club, and he'll take a shot at the top prize in Rocket League. This isn't the soccer Lindner thought he'd be playing in college, and Siena isn't the place, but it all worked out once he finally listened to Stefan and Kim Parker '90.
Lindner grew up outside of Rochester and passed on Siena to play soccer at Alfred State. When that didn't work out, he transferred to Monroe Community College. With each move, he was getting further from where he wanted to be.
"I just didn't feel like I was moving forward. I was waking up each day, giving little effort in school, and it just wasn't working out."
At that point, Lindner was ready to listen. His Aunt Kim and Uncle Stefan met at Siena and fell in love with the school and each other. They were married at the Chapel by Fr. Dennis Tamburello, O.F.M., and desperately wanted a member of the next generation to be a Saint. Specifically, they had Hawk in mind.
"I remember going to their house in North Carolina when I was kid and there were Siena blankets on the bed where I'd being staying. They always talked about Siena. And now that I'm here, they text me every day. They tell me that now that I'm a Saint, I'll be able to take advantage of their Siena network."
Both retired now, Stefan worked in finance and Kim was an attorney. Lindner is pursuing computer science. His dream is to work for NASA building rovers that will one day explore other planets.
"I love space. It's so cool to me. I've got a telescope, and I'll just sit in my driveway and look at planets. It's found a way into my heart."
He's currently leveraging his computer science education to round out a resume that might get NASA's attention. He recently developed a program, with the help of a classmate, that calculates the motion of planets in our solar system and how their motion influences other planets.
"I've found my place at Siena. I've met great people here, my closest friends. I became a community assistant this year. My aunt and uncle were right. I grew up wanting to be part of this community, I just didn't know it until I got here."
Next, Lindner is applying for a summer internship. It's the kind of work that might get him one step closer to NASA. He had his first interview earlier this week. As soon as it was over, he got a text from his aunt and uncle asking how it went.
Stefan and Kim Parker '90