To Dream Impossible Dreams

On April 24, 2025, the stage at the Celebration of Philanthropy was set, alive with the hum of anticipation. The murmurings of the crowd tapered off as a single spotlight beamed down upon a solitary silhouette in the darkness at center stage.

Steiger Manson was awash with nerves, electricity seeming to course through his veins, but viewers would never know it. He aimed his gaze at the hundreds of eyes in the stands, took a deep breath, and floored the theatre with the opening lyrics of The Impossible Dream, his voice a controlled powerhouse and a tender croon all at once.

Steiger wasn’t alone; by the next verse, the darkened stage flared to life with a cascade of white light, beaming down on 160 members of the Concert Choir and Choralia Women’s Chorus, their shining robes aglow under the kaleidoscope of yellow and blue lights above. Adding layers of new singers in waves, the performance built with Steiger at the forefront, reaching a soaring crescendo of hope and yearning. As the final lyrics of the song faded with a lingering note held by Steiger, the audience in the Oscar Larson Theatre burst into thunderous applause.

Chest heaving, heart pounding, and eyes swimming with emotion, Steiger took it all in, soaking up a memory that would remain with him for life.

For him, dreams have been far from impossible at South Dakota State. Thanks to the scholarship support guiding his way, Steiger’s time as a Jackrabbit has allowed his love for music and vocal performance to finally take center stage.

Two years prior to his solo at the Celebration of Philanthropy, Steiger was a small-town farm kid, raising swine and growing up in Center Point, Iowa. Even then, it was clear that he had two great passions in life: agriculture and music. He’d fostered a love of singing since sixth grade, yet as a child of two people from farming backgrounds and having been raised in a rural community, agriculture was in his blood – and he was good at it.

During Steiger’s high school years, he kept up a hectic schedule of travel and competitions in 4H, earning trophies, belt buckles, and ribbons galore from national expos. Despite his prowess in all things ag, Steiger still felt drawn to music and honing his singing voice.

When the time came to look at colleges, he was on the lookout for universities with strong program offerings in both music and agriculture. The draw of attending an out-of-state school, coupled with a standout visit at SDSU where he met Dr. Laura Diddle, the Paul and Doris Moriarty Professor of Choral Activities, and had the chance to sing with the Concert Choir during his first time on campus, sealed the deal for Steiger to become a Jackrabbit. When he arrived at State, he declared a double major in animal science and music studies.

“I viewed coming to college as a fresh start. I wanted to learn more about who I am and how to be myself in a place where I didn’t feel so boxed in,” Steiger reflects.

While Steiger’s time at SDSU started with a memorable tour at the Oscar Larson Performing Arts Center, he was soon the one giving the tours, instead. His freshman year, he immersed himself in extracurriculars, serving as an ambassador for the School of Performing Arts and joining the SDSU Concert Choir and The Statesmen men’s chorus. He also began singing in the choir at a church in Brookings, as well as becoming an officer for the Performance Alliance Club. By his sophomore year, Steiger had added working as a C.A. in Ben Reifel Hall – and those only represented his commitments outside of the animal science world. He continued to be active in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, still torn between which career track suited him best.

With an untenable schedule, Steiger was faced with a painstaking decision between the passion for ag he’d cultivated his whole life and the meteoric rise he’d built in the School of Performing Arts. In the end, his burgeoning talent for music won out, and he pivoted to a major in music education.

“I realized that, at some point, I was just going to start sacrificing the quality of one for the other,” Steiger explains. “I couldn’t be exceptional at both things, because there’s not enough hours in the day, and there’s only one of me.”

With a steady supply of scholarship support ensuring he could make the most of his experience, Steiger threw himself fully into his musical career. While he feels the impact of the donors that have made it all possible every day, there’s one moment that stands out to him as the first time he truly felt the gravity of the generosity working behind the scenes in his collegiate experience.

It was the Yuletide concert of 2024, and Steiger was set to perform a solo during the Concert Choir’s rendition of O’ Holy Night. In rehearsals, he cruised through the melody and nailed his part – except for one troublesome note. Though it was within his range, Steiger stumbled through it again and again, growing frustrated. He and Dr. Diddle had discussed the idea of him skipping the note in question, opting to switch to an easier one that came more naturally for his voice. The evening of Yuletide, just before the group went to take the stage, Steiger told Dr. Diddle he wanted to try for that difficult note after all. Without hesitation, she told him to go for it.

Steiger’s risk and confidence in himself paid off – when the moment of truth came, he belted out the perfect note and the crowd went wild. In that moment, his eyes met with Dr. Diddle’s, who was grinning ear to ear. When the audience gave a standing ovation, Steiger remembers thinking, “I can’t believe I’m even here. Did I actually just do that? Are they actually clapping for me?” It was a moment that was priceless, though Steiger knows that scholarship donors paid the price for him to have that cherished memory.

The way he sees it, donors might be inspired to create scholarships for two reasons: they can give to the causes that shaped their own positive experience during college, or they can give to ensure that today’s students don’t face the same financial hardships as they once did. Regardless of motivation, Steiger views scholarships as an investment in the future, creating a trickle-down effect in which each generation of Jackrabbit contributes to the next in a perpetual wave of support.

“Coming to college and investing in your education like that is certainly a big decision, and I’m very fortunate the financial burden isn’t quite so big,” he explains. “I’m so grateful that somebody out there is willing to invest in somebody like me – just a small-town, Iowa farm kid who is now singing in this beautiful place in front of all these people with my best friends.”

Steiger knows that studying what he’s passionate about is a privilege, and he has no plans of slowing his trajectory as a rising star in the world of opera. In the summer of 2025, he’ll depart for a month-long tenure in Italy, studying vocal performance alongside world-class performers and instrumentalists at the prestigious Opera Seme.

Following graduation in a few years, he plans to continue his education with graduate school that will hopefully lead him into a full-fledged career of traveling the world and doing what he loves most. Steiger even has retirement mapped out, with aspirations of becoming a vocal teacher following his performance career.

For Steiger, his journey at SDSU wasn’t just one of transitioning from a small town to the vast opportunities found at State. In a space where he was free to explore his options, his inner voice on what he was meant to do in life finally came through – and audiences agree it’s a voice that listeners won’t soon forget.

“I’ve learned to be more authentically myself at SDSU, and that the more authentic you are, the more magnetic you are to other people,” says Steiger. “I found what I’m truly passionate about, and I learned at the end of the day, it’s your life, and you’ve got to live it.”

The version of Steiger from a few years ago, immersed in a life rooted in agriculture, might not recognize where he is now: the type of performer who can take the stage in front of hundreds and deliver his all. A remarkable opera talent, unafraid to go for the tough note against the odds. A Jackrabbit who pursued his dream, once he discovered it wasn’t so impossible after all.