James Carroll sings for fun, flies remote-controlled planes, develops algorithms and has received several academic awards.
He is also a co-captain of the Elon University men's soccer team.
A senior midfielder, Carroll is seen as a leader on and off the field by his teammates and coach.
"He's very reliable," head coach Darren Powell said. "You know he's going to put in a full effort. He's determined to do well on the field and off the field."
On the field, Carroll is noticeable. He may not be the loudest, but he is always moving with the ball or challenging to win it in the middle of the field. If he is carrying the ball up the field and it is stolen from him, he immediately turns tail and runs after the thief.
In high school, he showed the same passion for excelling. Carroll was the president of the National Honor Society chapter of Myers Park High School in Charlotte.
"I was lucky because I got an early start in high school," Carroll said. "I went to a competitive high school in Myers Park. Throughout high school, I tried to develop the right study habits."
Academics played a large part in Carroll's decision to attend Elon.
"It was really a balance between academics and athletics," he said. "I felt that Elon had that mix that worked well for me. I was a pretty strong student in high school and really focused on academics."
That academic mindset transferred to Elon. Despite starting all but two of Elon's soccer games since his freshman year, Carroll has managed his time and done his work to such a high level that last year he was named to the Southern Conference Academic All-Conference team and was the male recipient of the A.L. Hook Scholar-Athlete award, which is given annually to the Phoenix male and female junior or senior athletes who possess the highest cumulative grade point average.
"It's hard work," Carroll said. "Having the right mentality to say I'm not going to give up until it's done the way I want it done. It's that hard work that will get you to the end goal."
That end goal is artificial intelligence work. During the summer, he did research at Auburn University working on rewriting collision avoidance algorithms for unmanned aerial vehicles.
"It was a lot of fun because we had these RC planes and we learned to fly them," Carroll said, "but then we were writing algorithms so that when they were flying up there with autopilots they would avoid each other. It just kind of inspired me to go more into that field and learn more about artificial intelligence in grad school."
Through Carroll's focus on academics, Powell speaks of him as leading by example.
"Every day he comes to practice and gives 100 percent," Powell said. "James is the type of leader that likes to lead by example."
It is an example that teammate and roommate Drew Gardner sees daily.
"He's definitely been a great leader and has developed in that way to help carry the team on," Gardner said.
Gardner said Carroll used to be quiet, but both he and Carroll attest to a change in that.
"I haven't always been the strongest leader vocally," Carroll said. "Over the years being captain, I've developed more of a vocal leadership."
Powell spoke also of Carroll's maturity in handling both school and soccer. Carroll has no idea where it came from.
"I'm just motivated to excel in everything I do and with that you have to be able to handle the requirements that come along with that and the responsibilities," Carroll said. "So it kind of enforces, requires maturity to be able to handle that."
With all the maturity and schoolwork and soccer, he still manages to find time to have fun.
"We have a running joke of whenever we leave, we'll see each other tomorrow," Gardner said with a laugh. "We really don't see each other that much because our schedules conflict that much."
Gardner and Carroll make a great pair because of their similarities. Gardner said their relationship is "dorky and nerdy, but we like to have a good time."
One example of the two having a good time can be seen in two songs the pair created under the moniker of "White and Whitey."
"Two of our teammates were makings rap songs," Gardner said. "So we were like, we should make up some songs. We should do something with academics."
The two songs are called "Student-Athlete" and "Food for Thought." The tracks are simply Gardner playing acoustic guitar and both players singing catchy rhymes about being a student-athlete and being nutritious. They are humorous and goofy but the pair's academic leanings are evident.
"That pretty much sums up our relationship," Gardner said. "We kinda feed off each other. We're both nerds. We like to study. So when we finally get time away from school and soccer, most of the time we just relax and hang out."