{"id":3653,"date":"2015-12-01T15:29:04","date_gmt":"2015-12-01T15:29:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=3653"},"modified":"2015-12-10T19:33:07","modified_gmt":"2015-12-10T19:33:07","slug":"american-ninja","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=3653","title":{"rendered":"American ninja"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ninja1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Deon Graham<\/strong> has earned his nickname \u201cThe Destroyer\u201d through his physical prowess displayed on \u201cAmerican Ninja Warrior.\u201d Graham, \u201909 civil engineering, was one of the contestants featured this season on the action-packed show that quickly became a fixture among households across the nation.<\/p>\n

Graham stood out from among the 50,000 individuals auditioning for the show because of his dynamic three-minute video which displayed his athleticism, training regimen and background. Working as a nuclear trained warfare officer for the Navy, Graham already had the discipline needed to be successful on the rigid course.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo prepare and condition, I did a lot of upper body training, focusing more on my body weight than traditional weightlifting,\u201d Graham said. \u201cI also utilized rock-climbing walls and spent time outside improving my endurance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once selected for the show\u2019s special active\/retired military-themed episode, Graham flew to Long Beach, California, to film, along with 110 other contestants. Since Graham\u2019s turn to complete the course was right in the middle of other competitors, he was able to watch their mistakes and formulate a strategy for how he could get through the course. He ended up unable to complete the entire course, but it was not a disappointment and more of a triumph.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce I got going it was just a rush with the crowd cheering and my adrenaline pumping,\u201d Graham said. \u201cIt honestly felt as if how a professional athlete experiences a game, with lots of cheering and support.\u201d<\/p>\n

Graham did complete the military qualifying round and advanced to the military finals competition in San Pedro City, California. Ultimately, Graham placed 20th overall before being eliminated.
\nGraham may not have conquered it all, but he won the admiration of thousands across the country not just for how he competed, but because of his service to the nation.<\/p>\n

Serving as a warfare officer for the Navy, Graham oversees the propulsion systems and personnel on nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. In addition, he is responsible for the maintenance and operations of nuclear aircraft engineering space and keeping the reactors under his control.<\/p>\n

Graham decided to enlist in the Navy after he completed high school and served for two years, before he was selected for the commissioning program. The program pays for a student\u2019s college education while they serve on active duty through the school\u2019s ROTC program. Graham selected Auburn as a secondary choice, but now says it was fate that brought him to the school he grew to love.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything happens for a reason and as soon as I arrived at Auburn, I knew I had made the right decision and fell in love with the people and campus,\u201d Graham said.<\/p>\n

One of Graham\u2019s strongest subjects throughout his schooling had been mathematics and while engineering, specifically civil, was not something he knew a lot about, he thought the combination of the two could serve him well in the long run.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was most intrigued with civil engineering because I could study structural analysis, and civil is such a tangible field where you can see and touch anything,\u201d Graham said. \u201cI thought earning an Auburn Engineering degree would serve me well in any capacity whether I stayed in the Navy or pursued other options.\u201d<\/p>\n

As part of the commissioning program requirements, Graham had to attend classes year round and graduate within three years, which was quite a challenge in the civil curriculum. He faced that obstacle head on, however, and is grateful to the college for the boost it has given to his career.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy degree has helped me solve problems, which is a large part of what I do now in my job,\u201d Graham said. \u201cWhen I\u2019m in a ship with a reactor, I always take a methodical approach to solve challenges and my Auburn Engineering degree laid that groundwork for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking toward the future, endless opportunities are open to Graham, especially now because of his \u201cAmerican Ninja Warrior\u201d involvement. He\u2019s coming up on a milestone with the Navy where he can commit to 10 more years, or evaluate other options available to him. Thanks to his popularity on the show and social media, Graham has interviewed for several consulting positions with various companies. As he faces this fork in the professional road, Graham is ready to tackle his future with great optimism just like he did facing the \u201cAmerican Ninja Warrior\u201d obstacle course.<\/p>\n

\"ninja2\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Deon Graham has earned his nickname \u201cThe Destroyer\u201d through his physical prowess displayed on \u201cAmerican Ninja Warrior.\u201d Graham, \u201909 civil engineering, was one of the contestants featured this season on the action-packed show that quickly became a fixture among households across the nation. Graham stood out from among the 50,000 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[755,36,754,757,555,756,758],"yoast_head":"\nAmerican ninja » Auburn Engineer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=3653\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"American ninja » Auburn Engineer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Deon Graham has earned his nickname \u201cThe Destroyer\u201d through his physical prowess displayed on \u201cAmerican Ninja Warrior.\u201d Graham, \u201909 civil engineering, was one of the contestants featured this season on the action-packed show that quickly became a fixture among households across the nation. Graham stood out from among the 50,000 […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=3653\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Auburn Engineer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-12-01T15:29:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-12-10T19:33:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/files\/2015\/12\/ninja1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Megan Burmester\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Megan Burmester\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=3653\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=3653\",\"name\":\"American ninja » Auburn Engineer\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-12-01T15:29:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-12-10T19:33:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#\/schema\/person\/a700ca5168254d796be11fe43699bcda\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=3653#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=3653\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=3653#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"American ninja\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/\",\"name\":\"Auburn Engineer\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#\/schema\/person\/a700ca5168254d796be11fe43699bcda\",\"name\":\"Megan Burmester\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/77ade51fe2a726a69e5658fd234891dc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/77ade51fe2a726a69e5658fd234891dc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Megan Burmester\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?author=20\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"American ninja » Auburn Engineer","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=3653","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"American ninja » Auburn Engineer","og_description":"Deon Graham has earned his nickname \u201cThe Destroyer\u201d through his physical prowess displayed on \u201cAmerican Ninja Warrior.\u201d Graham, \u201909 civil engineering, was one of the contestants featured this season on the action-packed show that quickly became a fixture among households across the nation. Graham stood out from among the 50,000 […]","og_url":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=3653","og_site_name":"Auburn Engineer","article_published_time":"2015-12-01T15:29:04+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-12-10T19:33:07+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/files\/2015\/12\/ninja1.jpg"}],"author":"Megan Burmester","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Megan Burmester","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=3653","url":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=3653","name":"American ninja » Auburn Engineer","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-12-01T15:29:04+00:00","dateModified":"2015-12-10T19:33:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#\/schema\/person\/a700ca5168254d796be11fe43699bcda"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=3653#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=3653"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=3653#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"American ninja"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/","name":"Auburn Engineer","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#\/schema\/person\/a700ca5168254d796be11fe43699bcda","name":"Megan Burmester","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/77ade51fe2a726a69e5658fd234891dc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/77ade51fe2a726a69e5658fd234891dc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Megan Burmester"},"url":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?author=20"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3653"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3653"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3653\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3708,"href":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3653\/revisions\/3708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}