Ride Home Rants
Ride Home Rants
From Mat to Mentor: Jaleel Richardson on Wrestling, BW Pride, and Building a Life That Lasts
A single visit changed everything. Jaleel Richardson walked Baldwin Wallace with his family on a bright day, talked wrestling with Coach Gibbs, spotted a comic shop across the street, and realized the fit was bigger than a roster spot. That decision took him from injured freshman to culture carrier, from athlete to advisor, and today he’s the first call for students trying to figure out where they belong.
We dive into the heart of BW wrestling’s rise and what Jacket Tough Mentality really means when the room is young and the scoreboard is brutal. Jaleel shares how a thin upperclass core, consistent standards, and shared ownership turned losses into leverage, ultimately fueling OAC titles and national relevance. He also breaks down D1 vs D2 vs D3 with blunt respect: Division I depth is real, but the gap between Divisions II and III is thinner than most think—passion, volume, and competition in DIII can match or surpass what people assume. There’s a great story about teammate-turned-pro fighter Blake Perry that shows what relentless work, humility, and quiet confidence look like day to day.
Away from the mat, the conversation shifts to life design. Jaleel explains admissions work from the ground level—college fairs, high school visits, and the steady guidance students and families need to turn options into clarity. He spotlights BW’s long-standing commitment to inclusion and belonging—Yellow Jacket for Life—plus outcomes that matter: high placement into jobs or grad school and a strong academic reputation built over decades. We talk about balancing a travel-heavy job with marriage and two small kids, relying on a strong partnership at home, and finishing a master’s degree with faith and focused effort. The throughline is simple and strong: culture beats slogans, consistency compounds, and belonging turns effort into growth.
If you’re choosing a college, building a team culture, or trying to juggle ambition with family, this conversation offers
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Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ride Home Rants Podcast. This is your special guest host Fiddy, and today I'm filling in with Mike Bono with a very special young man coming to us from Baldwin Wallace University. We're going to dive into all things about Jaleel here in a second. First, though, make sure you peep all of our sponsors in the pre-roll and the post-roll, as most of these sponsors are small business owners and very good friends of the show. Make sure you're checking them out. All of their information is in the links for the show. Check them out on social media as well. There are a lot of great sponsors, whether you're into golf or energy drinks, uh, clothing and apparel. So a lot of cool things to check out. But they're great, great uh sponsors of this show and great friends of this show. And make sure you keep all of our shows from the past five seasons of the beginning of Ride Home Ransom till right now, being in the middle of season five and really finishing uh this season up here relatively soon. So we're getting ready to launch season six here after the new year. Uh today's guest is Jaleel Richardson. Uh, he comes to us from Ballwan Wallace University. Jaleel, welcome to the show. Thank you. I appreciate it. Happy to be here. Yeah, absolutely. So I know we had a couple of times we had to reschedule with you, so we're glad to get you on um right now. You know, third time is the charm. So um, Jaleel, tell all of our listeners out there just a little bit about you. Like where are you from? Um, you know, where'd you go to high school at?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, absolutely. So uh born in Cleveland, Ohio, but grew up down in Akron, uh, ultimately ended up graduating from Copley High School, uh, down in Akron, bounced around a couple times. Um, my dad was a military guy, so he was used to just traveling around. So, you know, I've lived like I said, I was born here in Cleveland and then moved down to Akron, lived in Chicago for a little bit, then came back up here and ultimately, like I said, graduated from uh Copley High School. Um loved my loved my time there. Um obviously went on to Baldwin Wallace University after that. But uh now as an admission counselor at BW, I actually have Copley as one of my schools in my territory. So I'm really happy to actually get to go back uh as an alumni and and hopefully get some of the Copley Indians in that brown and gold here to be BW yellow jackets.
SPEAKER_00:So yeah. That's uh that's awesome. So what is it, what is it like being a uh child of a uh military parent? You know, you're um one of many people who have been on the show, over 270 guests, but I think you might be the first one whose um parents or parent was in the military. So what was what was that like growing up in that experience?
SPEAKER_01:Uh it was uh um man, it was my dad, he he taught us discipline for sure. Uh he taught us punctuality for sure. Absolutely. He uh he hated being late places. Um he instilled into us a respect for our armed services, um, but really just a respect for people in general. Um, you know, I think that that's why I'm kind of the way that I am, uh, in the sense that I want to try to help out as many possible people as I can. Um and I think I get an opportunity to do that in my role as an administrative counselor at BW. But in any role that I've had, I've always kind of gone at it with the sense of how can I help the most people that I possibly can. And so I think I got that from my dad. Uh rest in peace. He's been away for for six years now. Um, but uh a lot of a lot of great lessons we learned from from our dad with that military background.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, absolutely. And um, you know, we we here at Ride Home Rans are 110%, you know, military supporters. I know um Bono's family, he has some family that um served, and I had um four members of my family proudly serve in three global conflicts in World War II. My grandfather served as an engineer in the army um in Korea. My other grandfather served proudly um in the Air Force, um in the cargo unit. Um I had an uncle serve in the artillery unit in Vietnam, and my um stepfather served in the Navy on a destroyer in Vietnam. So um, you know, proud, proud military family here. Um so you know, you're at Copley, you're in your senior year of high school, um, just a few years ago for yourself. You're at Copley senior year of high school, um, you know, and you're thinking going on to um higher education for yourself. So um what schools were you looking at? You know, BW, of course, you ended up going to, but what other schools were you looking at? And what was that recruiting process like for you in wrestling?
SPEAKER_01:For sure. Well, I appreciate first and foremost you saying that it was only a few years ago for me because when I'm talking to these students now, and you know, I say I'm 31, wow, whoa, I don't act like I'm an agent. So um I appreciate that. Um going back to going back to where I was in my senior year. Um, to be honest, I wasn't even quite sure if I wanted to wrestle in college at that point. Um, my senior year was a little bit tough with injuries. Um, I ended up really messing up my my back uh towards the end of the senior year. And then I was having knee issues that didn't get addressed until my freshman year of college. Um, and so when I got here to college to BW, um I was having still those same knee issues and pain. And ultimately the doctors found I had a baker cyst in my knee that they said was the size of a golf ball. So I had to get that scraped out and ended up missing my freshman year. Um, but back to my senior year, again, I was going through all those things. I wasn't really quite sure if I really wanted to wrestle in college. Uh, one of my high school teammates, he had already committed uh to BW, um, and he really, really wanted me to take a visit. Um, in my mind, I kind of had BW wasn't even on my list. Uh, I was visiting John Carroll, I was visiting Case, I was visiting Miami, um, down in Oxford, Ohio. Um, I had taken uh wrestling visits to John Carroll and to Case. Um didn't ultimately, those didn't really feel like the environments for me. Uh Copley's colors are blue and gold. Um, John Carroll's colors are blue and gold. Um, you know, the visits didn't really just it didn't really just feel like like home for me. Um and then I kind of say all the time, I I asked what they did for fun at John Carroll, and they said go to BW. So I said, okay, well I might as well check out a visit at BW. Um and when I came here, I met with our coach, Coach Gibbs. Um really felt what he was trying to build here. Uh Coach Gibbs, he came to BW my senior year of high school, but didn't start doing any of the recruiting until that summer. So I was part of his first recruiting class. And so I was seeing what he was trying to build here at BW, and I can I could feel his passion and excitement for it. And then as I go back on the rest of my vision, I'm walking around campus. It was a very beautiful day. It was a very, very beautiful day. I remember like it was yesterday, and it was my I had my mom with me and my younger sister with me. And we're walking around campus, and my younger sister is just loving everything about BW. And then we went out and we we got lunch at Mike's on Front Street, and right across uh right across the street, there's a comic book store called Kid Force Collectibles. So I met with the coach, we talked wrestling, you know, I learned I wanted to go to school for business, so I learned that BW was a great business school. We had great food there. There was a comic book store right across the street, which I'm a big comic book fan and nerd. Um, and ultimately my sister was like, look, if you don't come here, I'm coming here. So either way, and I was like, Yeah, this absolutely feels like the environment for me. Um, and also I learned during my visit to BW about how strong the theater program was as well too. And ultimately, uh I really, really loved theater. And so uh I started to do more of that. I I did theater all throughout high school and growing up, but I really started to do more in my high school, my senior year. And so I kind of wanted to explore that a little bit. Uh ultimately, I was born in the generation where you know the parents felt like, hey, that's not a real job. You know, you need to find a real job, you're not gonna make money doing that. And so I ultimately ended up switching. But, you know, when I saw that BW had all of those different opportunities that would allow me to explore all of my different interests and wasn't just gonna lock me into one thing, you know, I was like, yeah, this is this seems like the school for me.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, no, that's definitely great. Um, and for anybody who's interested who's a new listener, we uh we've done a lot of movie um talks on here. We actually did one of the um one of the shows was about TV shows and movies. So if anybody's interested in uh listening to that, definitely check that out. Um, one of the upcoming shows we'll have this winter is all things uh Sylvester Stallone. So we talk about his uh his endeavors in the movies as well. So we're big movie fans um over here. So you come to BW, you're a student, you're a wrestler, you're enjoying life, doing things with theater, and then you actually meet a former guest of the show who ends up being your teammate, uh, who's now a profession or a pro MMA fighter uh in Blake Perry. So um, and uh, you know, he's definitely been a great guest on the show. We loved him. We had his mom on here as well. Um, so can you talk about you know your relationship with Blake and what that was like as an older student versus like him being a younger student, being in the same you know, weight class and and you know him being a wrestler. So, what was your relationship relationship with Blake like?
SPEAKER_01:Blake is a great guy, one of my favorite teammates I've ever had. Doesn't matter if it was middle school, high school, college. Um, Blake came in in the class right under me. So he's uh a year younger than I am. And um I mean immediately you could just there was nobody that I've ever seen worked harder than Blake in all aspects. You could just tell that he just cared. But what was even better about Blake was that he was just an amazing human being, just a great guy to be around. Uh funny, quiet, quieter than you would than than you would probably expect with somebody with that background that you just you know listed off, but um, you know, it extremely confident and it was just really inspiring. Um you know, me and Blake, uh, we wrestled his so again, he's a year younger than I am. So his freshman year uh was my sophomore year. And like I stated, I had knee surgery my freshman year. So it was almost like, you know, it was almost like me being a freshman as well, too. And in the wrestling standpoint, um seeing his work ethic just drove me even more, even more. Um, what a competitor, what a scrapper, but a a great guy is is the biggest takeaway for Blake.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, for sure. No, he was a great guest for the show, and we're so happy we had him on. Um, I think that was back in um the spring of 2022. We had him on. And uh, you know, for people that don't know Blake, um, you know, he was a high school wrestler, high school football player. I actually believe he played guard on his high school football team. So it kind of tells you the smaller guy, though. He he was as tough as nails. And um, you know, Blake fighting, you know, in the MMA space and um, you know, making sports center for smashing his nose like literally in half um and wanting to continue the fight, um, you know, talks about Blake's toughness. And I I do believe he served in the military as well, I think after his time here, you know, at BW. So um, you know, he had a lot of experience going into that.
SPEAKER_01:But um, I thought Blake had a at a good time where I I think I I can say I maybe got the best of Blake at some points in college. I want no issues now at all. At all. Um, yeah, incredibly tough guy, way tougher than I am. So yeah, good, good, good guy.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, no, that's awesome. So when when you came in and and during your time here um, you know, in the wrestling program, and then for people that don't know, BW is a nationally known program pretty much now, you know, after all this time. Um, could you see, you know, that and you I guess you had to because you bought into the the staff's you know vision, but can you see the growth, you know, during your time here at that four years to what that vision was? To then we'll get into a little bit later, but when you were a wrestling assistant to, you know, now being I think they took fourth at Nationals last year, could you see that happening during your time here?
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely. Maybe not, um maybe not to the level that we're at now, but absolutely uh it really mirrored a lot of my high school experience. So um my freshman year here at BW, we had three upperclassmen, if you want to call them that. One junior, uh, his name was Andrew Taylor, and then we had uh three sophomores on the team. And I think before we even made it to our first tournament, two of those sophomores quit. So it was Andrew, uh, my guy Kay Hill, who was a sophomore, uh, and then it was the rest of us freshmen. So we were getting smacked. We were for sure getting smacked my freshman year. Um, but I just knew that with that experience that we were, I mean, that we were getting freshman year, that that would just what what was that gonna do for us by the time that we became juniors and seniors once we got comfortable and once we got ready, um, which ultimately ended up showing as I think my junior year, I believe that we placed second in the OAC. And then my senior year, we won the OAC for the first time in I don't know how long. And I don't think that we've let that go. I don't think that we've let that go since. Um again, I really mirrored my high school experience where uh it was like that. Our freshman, it was pretty much like that. The majority of us in the lineup were freshmen. Um, and then we just kept building every single year. Um, and it was like that at BW. But Coach Gibbs, he um he brought to BW what we call JTM Jacket Tough mentality. Um, it was something that was so impactful that uh those of us that were remaining from my class, uh, the majority of us actually have that tattooed on us. Uh JTM, I have it right over my heart. Um, there are very few things that I would say have impacted me um more. I would say uh pledging as a member of Cap Alpha Software Incorporated, but then my time as a BW wrestler and really buying into Jack it tough mentality. Um I think the reason of why our success has continued is because of that consistency from Coach Gibbs and having that JTM. Um just the other day, just yesterday, or maybe it was two days ago now at this point, uh, I was in our Welcome Center lobby speaking with a wrestling recruit and one of our new assistant coaches, uh Coach Petrello, who just graduated last year. I want to say he was a two or three-time national champion, shattered every single record. No way I or anybody else I know is touching him when it comes to the BW greatness. Um but he mentioned JTM. We started just talking about JTM in front of the recruit, and the way that he would describe what it means to be JTM is exactly the same way that I would describe what it means to be JTM. Um, and that's in every aspect, every facet of our lives. So that consistency, that vision that Coach Gibbs uh brought here to BW with JTM definitely changed my life and I think changed the culture of BW wrestling as a whole.
SPEAKER_00:No, that's incredible. And and we've um, you know, we've had discussions on here over numerous shows. Um, in our greatest athlete show, we really dove into the the whole college wrestler and Olympic wrestler thing. And um, you know, for a period of time here, I believe it was like three years um during your time at BW, right, you were a part of the wrestling staff um as well. So I kind of want to get your opinion on this as a former college wrestler and a former college coach. You know, do you think there is a big difference between guys that wrestle at D3 versus D2 versus D1? Or is everyone very comparable, you know, as far as their skills? Maybe the D1s have a little bit more depth and things like that. But do you think, um, for the most part that, you know, it's pretty even playing field, like as far as your top guys across all the divisions?
SPEAKER_01:Great question. Um, I think that I'm gonna give respect where it's due to division one. Um, I think that there is a difference between division one um and divisions two and three. I think when we get into two and three, that's where the conversation really shifts. But I'm gonna give respect to uh to division to division one. Um, one of our wrestlers that we had just graduated not too long ago, uh, the younger brother of Josh Decatur, um he was actually at Ohio State. So Jordan and Jacob uh both went to Ohio State. Uh they both committed to Ohio State out of high school. Um Jacob ended up coming to BW because he wasn't. Well, I'm not, I don't want to speak for for the the the young man. Um great wrestler, great, great individual, great family. Um but he ended up coming to BW for whatever reasons while uh Jacob ended up staying at Ohio State. And you could see the differences absolutely between the the two in the in the competition levels. Um, I think that that goes away once we start talking about division two. I think absolutely that goes away once we start talking about division two. Um during my time as a BW wrestler, I wrestled against Ohio State. Um, I wrestled against Coach Brand's uh son. During my my time here at Ohio State, I've wrestled against Michigan teams, we've wrestled against Division II teams, Ashland, Lake Erie, Notre Dame. Um I think that is where we compete. I think that's where we compete. As a matter of fact, we we had a duel last year against Notre Dame. Notre Dame is Division II, we're Division III. We beat them. So I think that again, when it comes to the competition level of Division II and Division III, I would argue that the competition level of Division III is actually over that of Division II. I think that there's more student athletes in Division III. Um, I think that there's really no big, no, no major difference between the athletes that you see at Division I or I'm sorry, at Division II and Division III. And also at Division III, there are no athletic scholarships. So it's purely for the love of the sport. So you have more competition in general, and you have more passionate students, more passionate wrestlers in division three. So I'm gonna give respect to division one and I'll put them at number one, but then I would put division two or division three and then division two.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, okay, no, definitely um understood that. And um, I was just kind of curious, you know, from that perspective, because um, you know, I think in some of the other sports, and you're talking more maybe team sports, not the Olympic sports like swimming, wrestling, track and field, things like that. I mean, studs are gonna be studs in these sports, but I think some of those team sports, like I think if you look at it, probably say the third string or third team wide receiver at Hawaii could be, you know, the a starter at Division III school, say in football, right? Or the 16th man on the bench at Ohio University, for example, could be a starter, you know, at Division I or sorry, at Division III school and and have some success. So, but I was just kind of curious on that. So, um, you know, Julio, you are admissions counselor at BW. So can you kind of talk about um what you do here, you know, what you do uh here at BW with your admissions um job and and kind of what that entails for all the listeners out there?
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely. So um what my primary role uh at Baldwin University as a first year admission counselor is being the first stop, second stop, third stop, fourth stop, whatever you need uh for our incoming students or anybody that's interested in coming to BW as a first-year student. So uh my areas uh that I cover would be Garfield, Solon, Trinity, Summit County, uh Mahoney, Trimble, Stark State. Uh, I'm getting ready to start my travel season uh in the actually, I'm getting ready to start tomorrow uh with some fairs. Uh and that'll take me to be quite a bit. So I'll be you know at college fairs, uh engaging with students. I'll be at high school of business, engaging with students, but just trying to get them excited about coming to college, coming to BW, informing them about what we offer here and how we can help them achieve their goals.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, no, that's that's definitely great. And how many years have you been in admissions for two and a half years, almost 20 years now? Okay, okay. And then you did coach wrestling for three years, right?
SPEAKER_01:Yes, I did. Yep. Okay. Uh it's so you mentioned earlier about three being uh the lucky number. Uh, three in my fraternity is actually our number, our lucky number. So it took three tries to get here today. I was a coach for three years, an admission counselor going on almost three years as well. So that's my number.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, that's very cool. So, more than of course, work and being a former college wrestler, you are a very proud dad and husband. So, um, how do you balance, you know, being a husband with two small children at home and having those parental and spouse responsibilities with being an admissions counselor?
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely. I mean, my wife is my foundation. Um, that's my rock. Uh, we are in the midst of planning my son's third birthday, going back to the number three. Um, we're in the midst of playing that right now. Um, she's my rock. Uh sometimes, uh, you know, in the past, I've had to be on the road for weeks at a time. Uh, previous territory of mine was Chicago, uh Cincinnati and Dayton. So I would be there for a week plus uh while she was home with the kids. Um, and she was really, really, really holding down my foundation. And anytime that I've needed any anything, my wife is always there to lend a helping hand. She'll let me know about it for sure. Um, but she's always there to lend a helping hand. And she knows at the end of the day, I'm passionate about what I do, passionate about helping people. Um, even before I started working at BW, I was telling everybody about why they should go to BW. Now I get paid to tell people why they should go to BW. Um, and so she understands that um and she's supportive of that. Um, I've been I'm blessed this year, this go-around to where I don't have uh any extended travel, any overnight travel, so I can hit what I need to and then still get back home uh to help out with the little ones. Um, but there's no way that I would be able to do this without without my rock at all.
SPEAKER_00:No, for sure. And and and I think um people don't realize sometimes when you work like in the admission space or you coach and you're in a relationship, right? That can take a toll on a relationship, right? Because you you kind of work unorthodox hours, you're on the road and things like that. And I think um, you know, a great way to to find your way through that is to have that supportive spouse or that supportive partner um with you because you don't want to have trouble at home because of that affecting your trouble, you know, potentially your trouble at work. You want to have smooth selling and in that person behind you. So that's definitely awesome. She's so supportive of you and helps out with the kids and you know, understands that. So I I heard a long time ago that some of the biggest reasons why um, and this is a coaching thing, but some of the biggest reasons why coaches ultimately get divorced, unfortunately, is just because the time they're away. Um, and you know, I think when you're in a space, whether it's coaching or big business or whatever it is, you you have to find within yourself that balance, right? You can't have work bleed into family and and family bleed into work. You have to kind of keep them separate and find a good 50-50 balance, if not shaded more towards your family. You know, I um I heard a great quote um, you know, one time, and I and I'll kind of give the synopsis of it, but um a guy that was speaking said, um, and he was a successful businessman, he's a little bit older, but he said, somebody on their deathbed never said, Wow, I'm glad I sent that email on six o'clock on a Friday dinner with my wife. No one has ever said that in the history of life, you know. So I think when you can take that quote and that synopsis of what he said in the quote and live that in life, you can definitely find um a better balance. So um, on top of that, though, you are currently getting your master's degree as well. So, how is that going for you?
SPEAKER_01:Man, it is uh it is going. It is going, it is going great so far. It is challenging. Um, but I again I keep going back to it. Uh I'm blessed. Um, you know, in my family, we are very big in our faith. Um, and so we lean a lot on that and we understand that sometimes, you know, things are going to be challenging. Um, but with God, you know, all things are possible. Um, that also goes back to, you know, every time I want to complain, I feel the JTM on my chest start, you know, burning or, you know, things of that nature. Um, but school is is great. I'm on track to be completed in the spring of this year. Um, I'm taking classes that I'm passionate about right now, classes that um help me professionally, help me with what I want to do um long term as well. Uh very excited about uh a particular class I'm in right now doing project management. Um that has helped me tremendously, you know, in my professional life. So school has been good. It was something that I made a promise to my dad uh before he passed. Uh, I had actually promised him that I would get it before I had kids. Sorry, dad. But um I I'm very, very happy to be in this, and I can only imagine, you know, what I'll feel walking across that BW stage again.
SPEAKER_00:Sure. No, that's definitely awesome. And that that swerved another um quote I heard one time, and um it was that two men go out on a lake fishing, okay, and a storm comes out of nowhere. Um, and one guy is praying only, and one guy is rowing only. And then the guy that is rowing looked to the man that was praying and said, you know, you can pray and row at the same time. He can hear you while you work. So I think, you know, if people can also realize that, right? Um, you can have your your deep seated faith and and everyone's believes in something. If and if they don't, that's okay too. But it's okay to work hard and you know, pray at the same time and find that way for yourself.
SPEAKER_01:They say faith without works is dead. You know, you can't just not, you know, do it. God gives us the tools to be able to make stuff happen. Um, and if he sees that you're actually trying to make it happen, then he's gonna do what he can to make things a little bit easier for you. But um no, I I've never seen, you know, God be just like a genie where I just, you know, I wish, I wish, I wish, and then it happens. No, I don't know. I don't think that's how that works.
SPEAKER_00:Right, right. So um, Jaleel, you know, why if you're talking to a prospective student and we have a lot of listeners on here from a lot of different ages, and some people have college degrees and some don't, and some people may be looking for uh a college to go to. So why BW? What would make someone want to come here? What are some key things you want to point out?
SPEAKER_01:Some key things that I would want to point out. Um I think that at BW we focus on making sure that every student that steps forward onto our campus knows that they are an individual, that they may Matter. A piece of information about BW is we were one of the first schools in the Midwest, if not the very first school in the Midwest, to accept everybody, regardless of race, gender, or anything else. That was something that was important to us back then, but it's equally as important to us right now. You know, our slogan, expression, motto, whatever you want to call it, is YJ4L. That means yellow jacket for life. So that means at the moment that a student decides that they want to be a yellow jacket, they are part of our family. And for every student that steps foot onto our campus, not even just students, but for everybody that steps foot onto our campus, whether they are part of our direct yellow jacket family or not, we want them to feel like they are included, like they're respected, and like they matter. Because we all absolutely matter. We're all going to be respected while we're here. And of course, we're going to try to include all of our students in as many things as we can as possible. We understand that students might come here to, you know, go into a certain major. Maybe they want to go into performing arts. Maybe they want to go into engineering. Maybe they come here because they want to play a sport. Maybe they play basketball or football or they wrestle. Maybe they don't do any of those things. Maybe they're involved in Greek life, or maybe they're just a student that just comes to campus, right? We want them to feel like they matter. We want them to feel like they are respected and we want them to feel like they're included. And there are so many resources at our campus to make them feel those ways and to encourage them to open up them themselves, open up their ideas on some things that they maybe thought, maybe didn't think about before. But we want them to come out of here as well-rounded as possible. I would also say 96% of BW grads are either enrolled in grad school or hired full-time within six months of graduation. Employers love Baldwin Wallace because of the reputation that we've put forth. Over the past 30 years, BW has been featured in the U.S. News World Report as one of the best schools in the Midwest. Of course, you can go through our report and break it down by different majors and categories and things like that. But as a whole, we have been featured as one of the best schools in the Midwest. So because of that reputation over the past 30 years, that is reflected in that 96% of BW students either being enrolled in grad school or hired full-time within six months of graduation. So we're going to take care of making sure that you become as educated as possible and as ready for whatever career field you choose to enter as possible. But we are also going to make sure that you are ready for whatever the world looks like once you get out of BW as well.
SPEAKER_00:No, that's great. Thank you for sharing that. And to all the uh, you know, prospective students out there, you know, definitely check out BW. You know, get a hold of Jaleel. Um, you know, they would be happy to speak to you a little bit more. So um, Jaleel, before we get to the end of the show, we get into my favorite segment, the Fast Fitty Five. And that's five random questions brought to you by yours truly that Mike and I came up with about four years ago, um, in the middle of season one. And it is five random questions that will pop into my mind, and we ask all the guests this on the individual shows. And for people that don't know, on our round tables, we usually have the introductions and then ask two random questions. So, Julielle, if you're ready for the fast fitty five, we can dive in. Hit me. Okay. Question number one: would you rather be an elephant or a polar bear?
SPEAKER_01:Elephant. For sure.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, okay. Question number two. What do you think is harder? Being a Hall of Fame NFL punter or being a winning two-time gold medalist and figure skating.
SPEAKER_01:You're gonna get a lot of hate if you miss a kick as a kicker. Because it should be so easy. Oh, punter. What's more difficult being a Hall of Fame punter?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Oh being a Hall of Fame punter, that's more obscure. There has to be that that has to be so replaceable. Uh, there has to be has to be so much harder to be be a two-time Olympic figure skater, anything, but absolutely it has to be tough to be an Olympic figure skater. But I have to feel like there is a lot more job security in that than it is to be a punter. So to really small fan, I'm gonna say that.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, okay. What better fruit describes you as a person? An apple or a tomato? That's hilarious. Uh we asked the tough questions here on the ride. Uh an apple. Okay, okay. Uh, question number four. What are your thoughts on grape jelly?
SPEAKER_01:That's the only acceptable jelly. That is the only acceptable. Uh, strawberry is terrible. It should not even be an option. It is grape jelly or nothing.
SPEAKER_00:Wow, okay, grape jelly for life, right there. Okay. Um, question number five. This is always the big debate with people in Cleveland. What is the best suburb of Cleveland, in your opinion?
SPEAKER_01:The best suburb of Cleveland. My wife and I, before we got married, we lived in Lakewood. After we got married, we lived in Westlake. We've lived downtown. Um, I'm gonna say Lakewood. I'm gonna say I'm gonna say Lakewood. Lakewood is extremely diverse. They have great food, but they are also you can get everywhere very quickly. So if you want to go drive around and be inspired by all of the mansions over in Avon Lake and all those things, you can get there quickly. If you want to, you know, have a good time on West 25th, you can, you know, do that really quickly. Of course, you can get all to the sports games really quickly. Um I really wanted to name somewhere on the east side. I really, really did. Um, but I think I'll go with West or with Lakewood right now.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. And for anybody who's curious too a little bit more about Cleveland, um, last summer we didn't do an all things Cleveland show, and you can definitely check that out. We had a lot of people on there talking about the east side versus west side and what's the best side. Um, so we had a lot of cool things coming out from that. Um, one of my favorite suburbs is, of course, Willoughby on the east side, and we did a show about all things Willoughby for people that want to check that out as well. So people get very passionate here in Cleveland about the best suburb and all the cool things to do. But that's gonna do it for this week's episode of the Ride Home Rants podcast. I would like to thank my guest, Jaleel Richardson, for coming on and finding some time and a very busy schedule for himself to uh talk a little bit more about his experiences at BW and being a husband and a dad and a former college wrestler and an overall great guy. As always, if you enjoyed the show, be a friend and tell a friend. And if you didn't like it, tell them anyways, because I bet they like it just because you did it. This is Fiddy signing off, and we will see you next week.
