Freshman biology major Ben Staub does more with his free time than play games — the Risk fan also works with the Eagle Scouts and engages in charity work.

Student Spotlight is a once-weekly series that highlights campus individuals.

Northern Star: Why did you choose the major you did?

Ben Staub: I feel like science has always made the most sense to me to pursue as a career. With mathematics it never felt like anything new was being discovered — it always felt like science was progressing humanity.

So things like social studies deal with the past and the present, and I wanted to deal with the future, and biology made the most sense to me out of the three major sciences.

NS: What is something you are proud of?

BS: I am proud of being an Eagle Scout and I am proud of my family.

NS: Tell me more about being an Eagle Scout.

BS: I am getting the award next week, it was kind of a last-minute thing. For my project, there is a church where we hold our meetings, and they wanted a teaching area built outside. They wanted it to be built with logs, so what we did was we dug [a] trench into the ground, then put logs in and secured them there.

Now they can teach lessons to the pre-schoolers who go there in the little nature area that I have helped to build.

NS: What are your plans for the next five years?

BS: I plan on pursuing a career in the biological sciences, possibly the medical field, and I want to continue writing.

NS: What do you write about?

BS: Well, I would like to do screenwriting. I have written monologues and short stories in the past.

I have been told that I am pretty good at it so I feel that if I can put my ideas on paper, that is something else I can do in the future.

NS: What is your favorite game to play?

BS: I like to play football, tennis and Risk.

NS: What part of NIU have you liked the most since you have been here?

BS: The marching band, without a doubt.

NS: What is something very few people know about you?

BS: I have a stutter which sometimes prevents me from talking, and I have had it for as long as I can remember.

NS: Where is your favorite place to eat?

BS: It’s a restaurant in Rockford, a Thai restaurant called Thai Hut. It’s the best Thai food I have ever had.

NS: What is one thing you would like to do before you die?

BS: I would like to see something I have written be broadcast or performed.

NS: What is advice that you would give to fellow students?

BS: Don’t take life too seriously. It’s not the end of the world if you screw up.