A Ferris freshman in pre-pharmacy from Okemos, finds himself enjoying college life at Ferris, despite the beds not being long enough for tall people.
Spencer Vandecar, 6-foot-2-inches, grew up wanting to be anything but a pharmacist. He’s spent most of his life on a bike and is carrying on traditions in his family that started years ago.
Vandecar sat down with The Torch to talk about what it was like to grow up racing dirt bikes, why he chose pre-pharmacy, how he’s liking the food at The Rock and even shares a piece of advice.
TORCH: What do you like to do in your spare time?
SPENCER VANDECAR: The main thing that I do in my life is race dirt bikes. I’ve been doing that since I was 12-years-old, started riding a dirt bike when I was four. I also like to ride all types of bicycles, not just motorcycles. My family owns three bike shops, so I’ve grown up around bikes all my life. Every year there’s a road bike ride from Lansing to the Mackinac Bridge for five days, there’s a ton of people that do that, and that’s what I was doing last weekend. My family has been doing that since the seventies.
TORCH: What’s the scariest thing you have ever done?
VANDECAR: Hitting a jump I have never done before and completely crashing on it. It was really bad, it was a huge jump.
TORCH: Tell me about a proud accomplishment of yours.
VANDECAR: Just this past year I wrapped up the series win for my class in my races.
TORCH: What class do you race in?
VANDECAR: I race in B 200. The classes are A, B and C. A is for the best riders in the state, B is almost the best riders in the state, and C is average riders in the state. And 200 stands for 200 cc’s which is what every bike engine has to be under.
TORCH: As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
VANDECAR: I never gave that question much thought. If you want an honest answer, I wanted to be a Jedi. But every kid really wants to be a firefighter. There was a house that caught on fire a few doors down for me, it just kind of blew up. And I just went over to watch the firefighters fight the fire.
TORCH: What made you want to go into pre-pharmacy then?
VANDECAR: Well you have to begin thinking about practical careers. So I thought it should be something medical, medical jobs are everywhere. I don’t want to live in Michigan when I’m older, I want to live somewhere like North Carolina. Plus, pharmacists get paid pretty well.
TORCH: What’s your favorite food?
VANDECAR: I have always liked rice but my favorite food in general would probably be strawberries. And my favorite breakfast food is definitely chocolate chip pancakes.
TORCH: How do you feel about the food at the rock?
VANDECAR: I like it, there’s a good variety. Worst case scenario is a salad bar. But I love slushies! Everyone has to try a blue slushie!
TORCH: What’s a random piece of advice you’d give to someone if you could.
VANDECAR: A quote I really like is “be the type of person you want to meet,” so that’s the advice I would probably give.
TORCH: What’s your favorite joke?
VANDECAR: Why did the kid drop his ice cream? He got hit by a bus.