Meet Kyle Karempelis, Georgia ’15. He may look like a typical college athlete, but he’s so much more.

Karempelis is a walk-on football player for the Georgia Bulldogs, and for the last four years, he has worn multiple hats and helmets on campus. Many student-athletes choose sports over everything, but Karempelis was set on going beyond the football field.

“I wanted to be more. I wanted to be balanced on campus with my academics and social life.”

Two of his older brothers attended Georgia and were members of the Georgia Delta RLC. Both served as positive role models for Karempelis and exposed him to SigEp’s full capacity—changing lives.

“It was SigEp or nothing. I love football and considered it a priority, but I knew SigEp would add more to my college experience,” he said.

“People were not that surprised when I joined SigEp because we have a good reputation on campus and are well respected,” Karempelis explained. His teammates and classmates were more surprised by his ability to balance it all, and so was he.

“It’s a lot, balancing school, football and fraternity, but I didn’t want to be that stereotypical athlete who’s only an athlete.”

Karempelis graduates in December from Georgia with a business degree and countless memories with his SigEp brothers. He said hard work and self-discipline always win, and he learned that from the Balanced Man Program (BMP).

“The Balanced Man Program allowed me to set achievable goals, to look ahead and see where I wanted to go in life and who I wanted to become. The BMP and my brothers have guided me every step of the way, which is setting me up for success after college.”

Looking back at his college career and all the obstacles he tackled, Karempelis is proud of what he accomplished.

“Even when the odds were against me, I wasn’t afraid of failing. Walking onto the football team being 5 foot 8 inches in the SEC, a lot of people said I couldn’t do it, but I did. People said I couldn’t balance school, football AND a fraternity, but I did. It’s about proving people wrong, and I did.”

Kyle Karempelis isn’t just a scholar, an athlete and a fraternity man. He is determined, determined to be different.