Photo credit: Reuters

AU student Thomas Hickey probably wasn't doing much course work in early January. Helping his country take the gold medal at the World Junior Hockey Championship didn't leave him a lot of time for the books.

Hickey captained Canada's world junior hockey team to a 5-1 victory over Sweden on January 5 in front of over 20,000 fans in Ottawa. It was his second straight gold medal and the fifth straight win for Team Canada.

"Winning a gold medal is the best feeling there is," the 19-year-old Calgarian told the Calgary Herald. "Winning in Canada was pretty neat. It gave it a little edge. But it's a great feeling to do it twice and I feel so fortunate."

Hickey, chosen fourth overall by the Los Angeles Kings in the 2007 draft, plays for the Western Hockey League's Seattle Thunderbirds

"It can be hard to balance school and hockey, but I have been doing it for a long time," he says. "I try to focus on only hockey when that's what is required of me. But when it's time to do school work, I put distractions such as hockey out of my mind."

Hickey, a student in the School of Business, recently finished Administration 233: Writing in Organizations, and will be starting another class in February.

It is the flexibility and innovation offered by AU, and the support received from faculty and staff, which enables Hickey to pursue his passion for hockey and his interest in post-secondary education at the same time. Whichever way his career goes, he will be prepared to take advantage of all the opportunities that present themselves.