Tasman Wraps-up Columbia Degree and Career
Four years have flown by for former Blue Devil all-state baseball player Jon Tasman who graduated from Columbia University this week. The Huntington Class of 2005 member will soon head off to Europe for a long vacation.
Tasman is spending the entire month of June traveling through Athens, Rome, Florence, Paris and Dublin with his girlfriend, Sarah, who is also graduating from Columbia this month. “It’s going to be a great experience since I've never been out of the country and doing it with someone I care about as much as her is going to make it that much better,” he said.
Tasman entered Columbia with high hopes. An economics major, he was recruited to play catcher on the Lions’ varsity baseball team. Pro scouts tracked his progress since high school and it seemed a sure bet that a Major League team would draft him. But, a shoulder injury and subsequent surgery, followed by a long rehabilitation period, interrupted those plans. He returned to the line-up this spring, including hitting safely in his final collegiate game.
“Well, I can say these are definitely going to be years I remember for the rest of my life, Tasman said about his time on the Morningside Heights campus. “I just finished my last final of my career here and just the satisfaction of knowing all the long hours in the classroom and the long nights spent has paid off is an indescribable feeling of joy. I have had the time of my life in college.”
The Huntington grad said he’s loved living in New York City, so much so that he recently rented an apartment in Manhattan. “I have grown to love the area enough to want to start my life after college here after I graduate,” Tasman said. “I am still in pursuit of a comfortable job. There are options, but I know there are better opportunities out there if I give it the time and effort.”
Tasman was one of baseball’s top young players as a college freshman. But, a number of factors, including the shoulder injury dashed some of his hopes. “Even though I did not get the playing time I wanted in college, I am more than satisfied with my experiences,” he said. “It's been a rocky road with my injury and all, but I stuck it out all the way through my college experience because I love the game. The workouts and the practices keep me in great shape and were for the most part fun.”
Known as a very hard worker who likes to do all the little things required of a baseball player, Tasman played in a summer league in Hawaii for top amateurs a couple of years ago, before surgery interrupted plans for more summer ball. The injury and subsequent lack of regular playing time wasn’t easy to endure.
“I've had some tough days here, but there are a lot of memories left on the field here, one being my first collegiate homerun in my first Ivy League game and ending my career with a laser to the right center gap in my last start,” Tasman said. “The years at Columbia College flew by, maybe because it was a lot of fun. But, it could be all relative and life seems to speed up as you get older since you've experienced so many years already. No matter the case, I will miss at least most of college, other than the exams, homework and lack of sleep.”
When he’s in Huntington, Tasman makes a habit of stopping in at the high school and making the rounds to see friends and former teachers. He’s soft-spoken, but his presence is felt and he quickly gains the respect of those around him.
“I don't know if it's my competitive nature or what, but I knew that I was up for a challenge of stepping onto an Ivy League Campus after a public school experience, which is on the rarer side here, and the satisfaction of knowing I ‘won’ is a feeling of ecstasy. I can't wait to see where life takes me from here.”
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