By Anne Thompson
NBC News

Patrick Witt's choice comes with no guarantees. If he opts for the Rhodes interview, Witt  might not get the scholarship. If he opts for the game, Yale will be a decided underdog against a Harvard team that has not lost in the Ivy League this season.  

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NBC's Anne Thompson and her nephew Drew meet Yale quarterback Patrick Witt.

And, if all this wasn't enough, Witt is just a genuinely nice guy. I brought my 11-year-old nephew Drew along on the shoot. Drew is an outstanding athlete (he just ran a 6:17-minute mile) and student. I wanted him to meet someone who excelled in both areas. I hoped Witt could be a role model. As it happens often in sports, the image and the reality can be very different and disappointing.

Not so with Witt. He was gracious to Drew, me, producer Clare Duffy and our crew. He showed Drew that the idea of a student-athlete is no myth. Patrick Witt is the embodiment of both taken to remarkable levels of excellence.

Meet this extraordinary young man tonight on Nightly News. Meanwhile, vote in our poll and let us know what you think Witt should do.

By Anne Thompson
NBC News

He runs a pro style offense for the Yale Bulldogs, but 22-year-old Patrick Witt is, in a real sense, an option quarterback. Or at least a quarterback with options any college senior would envy.

Not only does Witt have a full-time job offer from Boston Consulting Group, but National Football League scouts are closely watching his games. One scouting website even projects Witt, the most accurate passer in Yale University history, will be selected in the sixth or seventh round of the NFL draft.

But on Nov. 19, Witt faces a tough choice: He can lead Yale against arch rival Harvard University in New Haven, Conn., or he can interview for the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship in his hometown of Atlanta.

On the one hand, the opportunity to be a Rhodes Scholar, Witt says, is tremendous. “And it is a difficult process. There are plenty of excellent candidates every year that aren’t selected, so that’s one part of it,” he said.

On the other, the game against Harvard would be Witt’s last college game. “And I’ve invested a lot of time. This is a sport I’ve been playing since I was a kid.”

Witt is not the first football player to face this dilemma. You might remember former Florida State University safety Myron Rolle, who faced a similar choice in 2008. Rolle, too, was a Rhodes finalist and had to interview for the scholarship in Birmingham, Ala. during the day, and try to make it for a crucial contest against Maryland in College Park, Md. He was able to do both because the Maryland game took place at night, and FSU had a private plane pick him up in Alabama. A police escort delivered Rolle to the game in Maryland. Rolle won the scholarship and FSU won the game.

The timing this year is not in Witt's favor. The kickoff for the 128th meeting between Harvard and Yale is set for noon on Nov. 19. The Rhodes interview could take all day - that same day. Even if Witt got the first interview at 8 a.m. Saturday, he could still be called back in the afternoon for a follow-up conversation.  There have been offers of private planes, but with the possibility of a callback, they wouldn't help.

Witt is a history major with a 3.91 grade point average. "Patrick rocks," said Dr. John Merriman, history professor, who wrote a Rhodes recommendation letter for Witt. Merriman said Witt earned an A plus in one of his courses during football season. 

"Patrick, he's the only guy I've known here that -- male or female -- that's really a great athlete and a great scholar," Merriman said. 

Witt's college career started at the University of Nebraska, where he had a four-year athletic scholarship as a quarterback for the Cornhuskers. While the football was challenging, Witt felt frustrated in the classroom.

"I came [to Yale] as a finance major from Nebraska and completely changed my trajectory,” he said. “I became a history major, focused quite extensively on French history with Professor Merriman. It's those expansions of your horizons that I really sought in coming here and I've been able to do just that."  

Yale does not offer athletic scholarships. Witt’s parents, Gene and Cathy, both commercial airline pilots, pay $55,000 a year for their son’s education.

Witt wants to study international relations at Oxford University in England, in preparation for a career in politics. "At the end of the day, the best advice I've been given is ‘this is your decision and you have to do what's right for you,’” he said.

The choice comes with no guarantees. If Witt opts for the Rhodes interview, he might not get the scholarship. If he opts for the game, Yale will be a decided underdog against a Harvard team that has not lost in the Ivy League this season. 

"It's thrilling," Witt said, "but, again, it's a big dilemma."

Learn more about Patrick Witt on Monday, Nov. 7 at 6:30 ET on Nightly News with Brian Williams.

By Kristen Dahlgren
NBC News

I had never seen a giant sequoia before. As we set out on the Trail of a Hundred Giants of the Giant Sequoia National Monument, I found my eyes searching skyward, my neck craning as my steps quickened. What I quickly learned is that you don't have to search for a sequoia.

About 10 steps down the path, and smack dab in front of me rose a trunk so massive that my first thought was, "This can't possibly be real." Twenty feet wide and more than 300 feet high, it looked like something dreamed up at Disneyland. But as we ventured into the cool forest, in the shade of the giants, it’s quickly apparent they’re anything but fake. They're the world's largest living organisms, shading the hillside and standing sentry in that exact spot for more than 1,000 years. 

Think about it. These same trees were here while the pharaohs ruled ancient Egypt, as King Arthur and his knights sat at the Round Table, and well before Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue. They've lived through an ice age and survived countless wildfires.

But on Sept. 30, a pair of 1,500-year-old giants (middle-aged in sequoia years) crashed to the ground. A German tourist was there at that very moment and  kept his composure as the ground must have started to rumble. He recorded the scene as the twin trunks toppled through the forest. (Make sure you check out our video!)  

We came upon the enormous trees lying straight across our path, and as impressive as a sequoia is standing upright, seeing them lying the length of a football field on the ground is enough to take your breath away. I quickly found some debris and scrambled up the side to survey the damage from above.

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NBC's Kristen Dahlgren poses with a giant sequoia

The base of the trees had fused and was three times my height. The branches alone are the size of most ordinary trees. The trees crashed right on the path - a handicapped accessible path that allowed everyone to view more than 100 massive sequoias. Not only does the Forest Service have to deal with logistics - how does one move not one, but two of the world's largest trees? -  but it also has to consider accessibility, since alternate path routes are too steep for wheelchairs.

The trees were declared a national monument in 2000, and there is no easy solution. Conservationists say do nothing, let Mother Nature be. As Forest Service authorities look to balance cost, accessibility, environmental, and emotional concerns, they are also asking the public what to do. 

Suggestions have included slicing through the tree in the spots it crosses the winding path, tunneling through it, building a bridge over it, and even cutting it up for firewood. Park service officials declined to say how much wood that would yield and only said it would, indeed, keep them warm this winter. They now hope to make a decision by next summer. 

Susan Kroll/NBC News

By Rehema Ellis
NBC News Chief Education Correspondent

Before I arrived in Shanghai, I had this image of people obediently doing what they were told because that's what happens in Communist China, right? I thought that would explain how Shanghai's 15-year-olds managed to beat their competition - including the United States - on international tests in reading, math and science. They did so well on the tests, I thought, because the government gives them the tools they need. They are admonished by everyone around them to study hard and they do.

I saw some of that when I visited Yucai High School in Shanghai, where I met a young student, Xing Hao, who actually took the international tests.

"The math is not very difficult," he said in perfect English, "because I studied."

But Xing Hao went on to say he was self-motivated to study hard because his goal is “to organize to protect ocean creatures so [he has] to study to attend a good college to make [his] dream come true."

China's college entrance exams are grueling and are viewed as the gateway to adult success. In Shanghai, a city of 23 million people - almost three times the size of New York City - there is a lot of competition and students had better be prepared. But beyond a commitment to work hard, what I found in China is that Shanghai's academic success is rooted in a national culture that embraces education as a real asset.

It should be mentioned, however, that the academic success in China's largest city has not yet spread to the vast rural areas such as Loudi in Hunan Province, about 1,000 miles from Shanghai. There, I visited an elementary school surrounded by rice paddies. The buildings were in disrepair. Children sat at worn out desks and worked with broken pencils and pens.

Susan Kroll/NBC News

But their spirit for learning was intense and inspiring. Twelve-year-old Wang Zhihong told me her parents and grandparents want her to be a doctor. The harsh reality is that only 25 percent of rural Chinese kids go to college, versus 80 percent in Shanghai and 70 percent in the United States. But Zhihong and her family know nothing about those numbers and their dreams are still big.

Back in Shanghai, students like Xing Hao are well aware that they are helping to enhance their nation's image. And yet, I saw something in Xing Hao and many of his classmates that wasn't just obedience to an idea. I got the sense that he really believes in the importance of learning. He didn't sound coached or rehearsed.

He went on to say he'd like to have more free time "to expand [his] horizons." But he told me that pursuit of idle pleasures will come later - after he's taken care of the business of getting an education.

For about 900 students at Yucai High School getting an education doesn't involve the latest high-tech tools. With about 40 students per class, I didn't see any Smart Boards or iPads in classrooms. I saw only one computer in the science lab. I did see many motivated and engaging teachers. Shanghai prides itself on teacher training.

There were other indications that the Chinese society as a whole is genuinely interested in Shanghai students. From the gardeners at Yucai High who meticulously cared for the campus grounds dotted with Confucius statues, to the lunch room workers who served healthful dishes of rice, meat and steamed vegetables, to the security staff members who were polite and watchful, they all seemed focused on creating the best learning environment possible for kids.

That environment creates little space for anything besides studying. At Yucai High students watch just 30 minutes of television a day during the school week. The program they watch is the news.

Susan Kroll/NBC News

By contrast, American students between the ages of eight and 18 spend an average of seven and a half hours per day using electronics, according to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation. That's more than 53 hours per week.

For those who wonder if the rigorous study habits make Chinese students robotic, unimaginative and therefore great test-takers but not great students - who have yet to invent their own Silicon Valley - some Chinese educators also wonder. Teachers told me the government is now encouraging schools and families to give kids more free time to be creative.

The kids I met were already engaged in creative thinking. They were inquisitive and funny and always polite. During class breaks I saw them fooling around and making jokes. They asked me questions about American life, President Obama, rap music and Oprah. They also wanted to know what other countries I had visited and what life was like there and how it compared to what they learned in school about different places.

Shanghai kids are studying how global events might have local consequences and it's not just because their government is telling them to. They are starting to think outside the box of preconceived notions that folks have of them. That's what prepared them to ace the international tests.

There is a lesson there for all of us.

Photos by Susan Kroll, NBC News producer