“Who am I? Who is Max Starvaggi? A painter? A rock climber? A young man with big aspirations? A humanitarian? How about I’m every **** one of those.”
Max Anthony Starvaggi was born in Akron, Ohio, where he “gained a love for city life, as well as backcountry life and farm life.” His house was near the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, where he spent many evenings climbing trees and hammocking with friends. In high school, he gained a passion for running and became the 800m indoor state champion his senior year. Despite his success in running, he says his true passions are with rock climbing and outdoor adventure. He spends a lot of time in the ARC on the rock climbing walls. After graduating high school, Max traveled out west with “no solid plan in mind.” He spent this time scoping out a place for his future home someday because he knows that he won’t live in Ohio forever. He fell in love with the mountains, and “gained a deeper appreciation for nature.”
Now that Max is a Buckeye, he spends a lot of his time “eating, sleeping, doing engineering homework, and when time permits– rock climbing and j chilling with friends.” Recently Max has been interviewed by CNN for being the “grill master” at the Remembrance Park tailgate before the Maryland vs Ohio State football game, where he also got to high five many of the Ohio State football players, including JT Barrett. This is Max’s “first major media debut” but he states that he is “likely to be in many high-quality productions in the future.” Max plans to try-out for the Ohio State track team in autumn 2018, where he hopes to “run fast and not get last.” Max is a “hippy at heart,” and despite studying to be an engineer and “hoping to end up making more than $8.10 an hour,” he plans to live in a van someday while he travels the country and “eats McDonald’s frequently.” Max’s favorite item on the McDonald’s menu is “the fillet o’fish with extra sauce.” Lastly, and Max argued “most importantly,” is that he loves dogs.
When I moved into Baker Hall East on August 19th, I was scared, nervous, excited, and unsure what the coming months would have in store for me. Since move-in day, I have experienced so much. I have made some great friends, explored the Short North, taken fitness classes at the RPAC, done homework all over the place (Thompson Library & The Union are my favorites), gone to all of the OSU home football games, decorated my dorm for the holidays, drank more coffee than I ever thought possible, gone to Chicago with the Humanities and Arts Scholars, learned (the hard way) that it is colder in Ohio than Indiana, and schedule for my next semester. I have lived so much life in this short amount of time, and am so excited to see everything else I will get to experience because I’m at Ohio State University. Although I am sad to see my first semester come to a close, I am so excited for the future!
