Geoffrey Kleinberg raced through high school, constantly juggling academics, athletics, and music. Over the past four years, he has been an essential part of the Emmaus cross country and track and field teams, Chorale, Fermata Nowhere, jazz band, American Computer Science League (ACSL), and PA Math League.

Kleinberg has been running from a very young age and will continue down that road on Moravian College’s cross country and track and field teams. Academically, he plans to pursue a double major in mathematics and computer science. 

Stinger: When did you realize you wanted to pursue mathematics and computer science?

Kleinberg: I’ve always enjoyed those subjects, but especially with classes that I’ve taken in high school, like the calculus and the computer science classes. Those have definitely helped make me sure that is what I want to do, because they’ve been very fun and I just enjoy that type of problem solving. 

Stinger: What has been your favorite part of running for Emmaus teams?

Kleinberg: I would definitely say that it’s getting to know everyone on the team and forming the type of bond that you can really only form by sharing the pain of workouts together, but, also the relaxing, easy runs. Just to really get to know everyone and have that close, tight-knit group–that was always the most enjoyable part.

Stinger: Do you have a favorite memory from those sports?

Kleinberg: I think one of the runs that I remember the most, there was a huge, like, downpour the whole time, and we were just, like, going through puddles and stuff, kinda just messing around the whole run. That was probably one of the most fun runs we’ve had. 

Stinger: How have you changed since freshman year?

Kleinberg: I feel like I was more one-dimensional freshman year. In some ways, I guess I’m still changing that, but I was just solely focused on running pretty much, and that was all I really gave thought to. But now, I’ve been able to expand and put more time into other things and other activities that I also enjoy, and have more of a balance this way so I can focus on a variety of things instead of just the one. 

Stinger: If you could go back and give advice to your freshman self, what would you say?

Kleinberg: I think I would tell myself not to hold onto things if I know that […] they are going to end badly, […] because I got hurt my junior year, and I just kinda held onto my running streak of running every day, even though I knew that wasn’t the best choice. So, I would, you know, kind of warn myself: ‘Sometimes it’s ok to take a break or to step back because that’s what you need to do in order to come back another time and continue that route.’

Stinger: Who is your role model?

Kleinberg: It would have to be my brother, my older brother. He did cross country and track as well; he kind of inspired me to do them. And then with his, you know, education, he’s also been very dedicated to that, and he’s always been a very good student. I’ve tried to always surpass what he’s done; I haven’t always succeeded in that, but I’ve tried. But yeah, just seeing how he dedicates himself to his studies and everything he does, it’s been very inspiring. 

Stinger: How do you want to be remembered once you graduate?

Kleinberg: I’d like to be remembered as someone who always works hard in all the things that I’ve tried to work hard in. I would always give 100% in whatever it was, even though, you know, it was hard to do that for so many things. I felt like I always tried to just fully give myself to whatever I was working on at the time, and hopefully, [I] help[ed] all my classmates and teachers and coaches and everyone by them knowing that I would be 100% into that.

Stinger: Could you describe your high school experience in three words?

Kleinberg: Busy–definitely, rewarding, and memorable. Busy was–I mean, there’s just a lot of stuff going on, and I was trying to fit everything in and, you know, make everything work together, which often meant that I didn’t have as much time to just relax. But I think it was worth it. Rewarding, because I feel like I’ve learned so much from, like, every group: music taught me some things, running taught me other things, and then my subjects in school taught me, you know, more school-like things, but still important things. The accumulation of all of that was very–just rewarding in general–like, a very positive experience. And memorable, because I mean, a lot of stuff happened, of course, just over four years. So, you know, it’s been a lot, and it’s just a time that I know I’ll be able to look back on and be proud of what I’ve accomplished, and just remember it as a time that was overall quite fun and successful and just enjoyable in many ways.