Baseball player Brooks O'Brien and Dr. Wes Jones

About Brooks O'Brien: 

• Junior
• 5-9 infielder
• Native of Greer, S.C.

About Dr. Wes Jones: 

• Associate Dean for Programs and Outreach for The Citadel School of Business and an Associate Professor of Finance
• Owns am Associate of Arts in Liberal Arts from Brewton Parker College, a BBA in Management from Georgia Southern, an MBA in Business Administration from Georgia Southern and a Ph.D. in Finance from Florida Atlantic
• Has been teaching for 30 years and has been at The Citadel since 2001. 

         Q&A with Brooks O'Brien:

• What did you like most about Dr. Jones's class? I really enjoyed Business Finance because of the basic fundamentals I learned from the class. Dr. Jones made the material easy to understand and made sure we learned all of the material.
•  What makes Dr. Jones a good teacher?  Dr. Jones does a great job of keeping his students engaged and helping us fully grasp the concepts of his course. He genuinely cares about his students and their successes. One of my favorite things about Dr. Jones was how he constantly asked each athlete in the room how their season was going and made a conscious effort to attend as many sporting events as possible.
• What is something you’re involved in outside of class and sports that we may not know? I am currently an active member of the Finance Club on campus but spend the majority of my free time working on the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Leadership Team.           
• How do you manage academics, athletics and a social life? What is your key to good time management? One of the things I have learned over the years is that time management comes down to prioritization efforts. Everyone loves having fun and hanging out with friends, watching movies, or taking naps, but none of those things take precedence over my academics or baseball. By forcing myself to get what I need to get done from an academic standpoint early allows me to have more stress-free social time down the road. The best way to manage your time is to knock out our difficult or long-winded assignment or responsibilities early in the day or week to allow yourself some leisure time in the evenings and on weekends.
• What is your favorite spot on campus? I love sitting in the basketball gym on campus. I am either in the gym shooting around in my free time or sitting up in the upper level seating working on schoolwork or relaxing. It’s for sure my favorite spot on campus.
• What is the most important skill you've learned through participation in your sport? Communication; baseball is a sport that requires a lot of communication, especially on defense. I’ve become a lot more vocal over the years on the baseball diamond which has helped me become a better leader and more personable off the field.
• Do you have any nicknames? Or if you could choose your own, what would it be and why? OB; it always has been my nickname and always will be!
• What are your plans post grad?  I'm hoping to enter into the Finance sector but I am also looking at sales as a potential job post grad. Either way, I want to do something that allows me to interact with people and build lasting relationships.

Q&A with Dr. Jones:

• What was it like having Brooks in your class? I have found that over the years I tend to remember two types of students, the very good ones, and the very bad ones.  Brooks definitely belongs in the “good student” group.
• What is your favorite sport or hobby? What do you like to do in your free time? I like pretty much all sports as a spectator. For my personal activity I like to swim and try to swim 2 – 3 times per week. I am dating a competitive swimmer who is nationally and world ranked, and I very much enjoy watching her and her teammates compete. I like to play racquet sports like tennis and racquetball, but I’m not very good. As a hobby, I like music and play several musical instruments (guitar, bass, banjo, mandolin, keyboards, sax, etc.)  I am auditioning for the worship team at Seacoast church in about a week.
• How often are you able to watch your student-athletes compete? Not often enough. I try to make it to games where I know I have a student participating if possible.
• What’s your favorite spot on campus? My favorite spot on campus is my classroom.
• What is your favorite thing about teaching? Definitely the students and watching them “get it.”
• What would students be surprised to find out about you? I have 5 grown children, and am a widower. My wife of 33 years passed away from breast cancer about 3 years ago, and it has taken me a while to get back into life. Happy to report that I am now at a place where I am enjoying life more than I ever thought possible!
• What is one class your schools offers that you wish you could take? I can’t really think of one that I would like to take now, but I wish I could have taken personal finance when I was an undergraduate. I would be in a much better place financially by now if I had I think.

About Classroom Connections: In its second year, Classroom Connections is a weekly feature that showcases student-athletes away from the playing field and highlights the relationship between student-athlete and professor.