Throughout the academic year, the Southern Conference will feature a student-athlete from around the league in a series called the SoCon Spotlight. This provides an opportunity to get acquainted with the student-athlete in a different light. The question and answer session will focus on a student-athlete who contributes on the field, course, mat or court through community service.
This SoCon Athlete Spotlight focuses on Samford's Patrick Wells, a senior finance major from Hoover, Ala. Wells competes in pole vault for the Bulldog men's track & field team and when he's not on the field, he's participating in activities with Samford's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) including Athletes for Athletes and a mentoring program. We recently sat down with Wells to talk about his involvement with SAAC as well as his experiences as a student-athlete at Samford.
Tell us about yourself.
"I'm originally from Hoover, Ala., right down the road from Samford, about 15 minutes away. I'm a finance major. I'm a senior and expecting to graduate this May."
What events do you compete in?
"I pole vault."
It seems like a pretty nerve-wracking event. What made you decide to start pole vaulting?
"I started pole vaulting way back when I was in the sixth grade. I was playing so much basketball; basketball was really my love. My dad wanted me to be doing something else besides basketball. In pole vaulting, you need to be fast, you need to be strong, a lot of attributes that really help with any other sport. That's when I took up pole vaulting."
You spent three years at the University of Alabama. What led you to transfer to Samford?
"Coach Tiffin, our head coach at Samford, actually got the heading coach job here. When he came over, he asked me to come with him. We worked it out to where I got to transfer over with him. I followed him from Alabama to Samford."
Tell us a little bit more about the outdoor season. Do you have any different goals?
"Outdoor is a whole lot longer. In indoor, we only have five meets. In outdoor we have eight or nine meets. It's a much longer season. There are more events with outdoor, so more people get to travel. Anytime you're adding more people I think it's better. More families get to come, and that makes it special. All of the parents travel with us as well who are always coming to support. That makes it a lot of fun, meeting families."
You are involved in SAAC, which is the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Can you tell us a little bit about that organization and what you've done with them?
"SAAC is a way for athletes to get involved and to be involved besides just athletics. We get to go to other events that students go to. I was involved in Athletes For Athletes. It's trying to get track to go to basketball games, soccer to go to volleyball games. It's just a way for athletes to support other athletes, which is really cool. Another thing we did was a mentoring program where we got to be involved in reading to kids in an elementary school. We get to go and hang out with them at their recess. We also got to spend time helping them with math and reading. That's been really great.
How would you say that your volunteer experience has impacted your work in the classroom or your work as an athlete?
"It's really been a good way to give back. We get so caught up a lot of times just focusing within ourselves and within our studies and always going to practice. It's a way where we can get away from all that, put all that aside. We get to go hang out with kids. I love hanging out with kids and playing recess and stuff like that, just goofing around. It's really a fun way to give back."
What would you say to other student-athletes who are considering getting involved in volunteer work or a committee like SAAC?
"Do it, just do it. It's really cool. It keeps you from having the focus on you. It's not about us. There's so much pressure on us to perform and for me to jump really high, but in the big scheme of things it's not about me. It's about giving back. It's about helping other people and using our platform as an athlete - because a lot of people look up to us - to give back and to show that we're involved and to show that we care about other things besides just being an athlete."
You obviously have a lot of responsibilities as a student-athlete at Samford. How do you maintain your sense of balance and keep focused?
"Some people might not like it, but at Samford we have a slot of time on Tuesdays and Thursdays when we have chapel. We get to go and we put everything aside. They have a worship service, and they have a time of prayer. It's really cool. It helps me slow down and helps me to realize that it's about more than me. My relationship with Christ and my religion really helps me keep everything in focus."
You are a senior this year. Do you have any plans yet for after this year's done?
"I'm going to go ahead and start my MBA. I actually have one more year of eligibility through track. I have another outdoor season. I'm going to start my MBA and continue my education."
What is your best memory so far at Samford?
"I don't know if I can say it's one memory or just one time that it happened. When I was at Alabama I had several surgeries. I was really plagued through injuries. Samford has just given me a new hope. The team is amazing. The coaches are so awesome. Really just spending that time bonding and getting to know my teammates has really made the transfer process and my time at Samford really worth it."
2009-10 SoCon Spotlight Featured Student-Athletes
Appalachian State - Sam Ramirez - Basketball (view article and interview)
College of Charleston - Emily Morgan - Soccer (view article and interview)
The Citadel - Lauren Fleming - Track & Field (view article and interview)
Davidson - Bryant Barr - Basketball (view article and interview)
Elon - Steven Kinney - Soccer (view article and interview)
Furman - Jessica Preeg - Tennis (view article and interview)
Georgia Southern - Jake Ware - Baseball (view article and interview)
UNC Greensboro - Emily Akiyama - Softball (view article and interview)
Samford - Patrick Wells - Track & Field (view article and interview)
Chattanooga - Maria Juliana Loza - Golf (view article and interview)
Western Carolina - Kristen Feemster - Basketball (view article and interview)
Wofford - Jordan Ingman - Football (view article and interview)