Piper Profile: Roddy MacNeil
Some of us are born performers, but a lucky few are born into performing families. With a violinist grandfather and a bagpiper father, it’s not difficult to guess under which category Roddy MacNeil falls.
Roddy MacNeil ’15
“I love performing,” he says. “My dad once told me that there are people who like to be in the parade and people who like to watch the parade—Be the person in the parade.”
It seems only natural that MacNeil, who has been piping for 10 years, would find himself at Alma College. Now rocking a kilt on campus, he says he’s excited to be a member of the Alma College Pipe Band.
“By the time I graduate, I hope to be on the Open-grade piping level,” he says. “I can’t wait to start competing because it means I’ll have the opportunity to make friends and meet more bagpipers.”
A kilt won’t be the only uniform that the Brethren freshman will wear on the field during his time at Alma, however. Having played baseball even longer than he has piped, MacNeil, a pitcher/shortstop for Alma’s team, says it’s his sport.
&ldquo:I love baseball because it’s a sport that requires a lot of thought,” he says. “An outsider who doesn’t know much about it might find it boring, but there are so many challenges going on at once. It’s like a nine-inning chess game.”
Off the field, MacNeil plans to pursue a major in secondary education, with the hope of becoming a high school biology and chemistry teacher.
