A year ago, Windward alumnus Ben Blau ‘24 was making people laugh. 

These days, he’s stopping them from fighting. 

It’s been quite the transition to life as a college student.

Blau, who excelled his senior year as a member of WIT (Windward’s improv troupe), attends the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is a Mechanical Engineering major who might pursue a minor in Economics or Finance. Engineering is widely known as one of the most challenging majors, requiring an adept understanding of mathematics and physics. 

Fortunately, said Blau, his days as a Wildcat, many of which were spent taking AP classes, gave him the training he needed to succeed at Wisconsin.

“Windward does a very good job at prepping you for what college work is like,” he said, “at least for me as a STEM student. So much of the work is put on you, and many of these tests are much more comprehensive than I think many of my peers expect.”

What he was not prepared for was the cold. 

“You’ve got to get boots early on, prep for rain and snow on the same day,” he explained. “But it’s great. It’s a big football school, so that’s always fun.” 

One of the best aspects of Wisconsin, according to Blau, is the diversity of its students. 

Windward, in many ways, developed him to take advantage of that as well. 

“At Windward, I knew everyone’s name and we’ve shared meaningful experiences and memories,” he said. “Everyone in my grade knew each other, unlike a big high school with 2,000 people, or a high school that experiences strict division of archetypes.”

“At some schools, if you’re a theater kid, the only people you mess with are theater kids, and you don’t interact with other people beyond your space,” Blau continued. “But I think at Windward, you definitely don’t do that. I was a part of theater. But I also knew athletes, engineers and artists and history majors etc. Everyone interacted across different interests.”

As a result, Blau isn’t a one-dimensional engineering student, and has fostered his curiosity for other passions by interacting with friends who don’t all do the same thing.

“It’s made me more open to fostering a sense of community and unafraid to talk to people about their interests,” he said. “I don’t have to stick to just engineering peers; I can connect with people from all backgrounds.” 

Blau’s ability to connect—and his experience as an actor, dealing with crowds—in some ways gave him the perfect skills for his current job at Wisconsin: Working as a security guard at frat parties. 

What exactly does that look like? 

“You make sure the right people come in and people who shouldn’t be there don’t,” Blau explained. “Some places have an entry fee. I think it’s interesting that I, as someone not of age, am doing that to make sure that people are 21.”

Given that one of a security guard’s main jobs is to prevent fights, Blau is proud that almost no violence has broken out at a party where he’s worked. People do act as if they’re going rumble—at least, until they consider the likelihood of also having to deal with Ben. 

“The truth is a lot of guys like to threaten to fight,” he said, “but not many people like to do it, especially when they face the prospect of leaving the party with a cracked jaw and a misdemeanor on their record. They won’t see these hands coming.”

The one time that a fight actually broke out, the combatants were taken care of.

“Two women started fighting each other,” explained Blau. “We removed both of them, and they tried to fight again on the street, so we had to separate them.”

Working security has also led to some surprising moments for Blau, too. 

“It’s only happened twice,” he explained, “but there have been times where people will recognize me and be like, ‘Dude, you’re in my chem class.’”

All in all, freshman year has been good for Blau. Asked if he’s managing life well as an adult, he was honest, explaining how everyone sees him doing fine, but sometimes, as expected, he encounters bumps along the road.

“They’re like, wow. This guy has it all figured out,” he said. “I’m like, yeah. I do. But, after they meet me, they’re like, wow. It’s a train wreck. Wow.”

Still, Blau shows the optimism and self-belief that he carried with him at Windward.  

“The only thing that’s stopping me,” he explained, “is myself.” 

And as Blau made clear: If you’re at a frat party and he’s working security, the thing that will be stopping you from fighting is him.