Imani Vincent, Staff Writer 

A dual athlete and a stellar student is something a few people can say they are in this day and age.

Paul “Slickback” Litvak is a Brooklyn, New York native reigning from Abraham Lincoln High School in Coney Island. He comes from a small family of his mom, stepfather and older brother. In high school playing for Brooklyn powerhouse Abraham Lincoln, he won two city-championships, leaving his senior class as the best Quarterback in the city. Putting up large stats game in and game out he stands at 5’10’’ weighing 225 lbs. Size was his only downfall as an athlete, as he still managed to move on to play collegiate football.

Litvak’s expectations coming to play football for the Utica College Pioneers was that it would be very difficult to adjust. Playing in the same system for four years in high school then changing offenses to learn something new would be challenging to anyone. Litvak just wanted to adjust as fast as he can, and he knew he had a chance to see the field early. Dressing for every single varsity football game as a freshman is something that few can admit in this program. Some players don’t even get to dress for a varsity game until their Junior year.

Litvak is doing some profound things in just his first year on campus. A Health Studies major with strong ambitions to join the Physical Therapy program after he completes his years in health studies, Litvak wanted to hit the ground running when it came to his academics. He has never failed a class before so he expected to continue the trend in college. When he received his first grade back from his biology class and saw that is was a 38 he knew his study habits had to change, and change fast.

Since then he has been meeting with his roommate, also from Brooklyn Nick Flazone, and people who live on his floor to form study groups for biology. Litvak passed biology very comfortably, but it wasn’t easy, and it took many long nights filled with pizza and coffee to keep him up.

Litvak aspires to be a physical therapist for a collegiate team or an NFL team. He wants to help people get back on their feet as fast as possible. After his first semester, Litvak’s GPA is holding strong at a 3.5

Litvak, 18, already speaks four languages including: Hebrew, Spanish, Russian and English.

Litvak’s grandfather is among the greatest Americans of all time by winning gold in the 1984 Summer Olympics as a head coach.

Some of Litvak’s favorite teams consist of the Knicks, Giants and Yankees as you could assume because of him being a hometown Brooklyn kid.

The reason why Litvak wants to graduate and will do anything to finish is because he is his mother’s last child and would love to give her a diploma, just something to hang on the wall. Litvak does anything to make his mother proud.