Throughout the spring semester we are celebrating our senior student-athletes with a Senior Salute series. Today's featured senior is track and field's Rob Mays III. Mays III is a self-designed health disparities in sports medicine major.
Q: Why did you choose to attend The College of Wooster?
A: Wooster has many good connections and the academic structure to lead to medical school. It is also a smaller school, meaning I get a more focused learning environment and can have more connection to professors.
Q: What does being a Fighting Scot student-athlete mean to you?
A: It means being a student first. Academics are a priority, and I can compete in a sport I care deeply about with people who care just as much.
Q: What are some of your favorite memories as a student at The College of Wooster?
A: My two favorite memories as an athlete are my first sack in game as a first-year and throwing a personal best at Coastal Carolina University for third place against Div. I competition. Academically, my favorite memories are creating my self-designed major and finally being done with two long semesters of organic chemistry.
Q: What is the best part about being a student-athlete at The College of Wooster?
A: The best part is being able to compete in my sport with the understanding that I am always a student before an athlete.
Q: What else were you involved with on campus besides your sport?
A: I am a student assistant for the football team and was involved in other organizations like Latinas Unidas, Black Women's Organization, and the Black Student Association. I served for three years as the Black Student Association vice president.
Q: Which College of Wooster faculty or staff member has made the greatest impact on you and why?
A: Dr. Laura Sirot had been there for me and helped me create my self-design major. She went above and beyond to help me find future connections in the medical field.
Q: What other people or resources impacted your Wooster experience in a positive way and how did these people and resources set you up to be successful at Wooster?
A: Dr. Bryan Karazsia for his care and enthusiasm in his classes. Coach Carson Kinney has been my favorite person in general to talk to, learn from, sit with, and all of the above. Also, whoever oversees finances for letting me come back every semester knowing I had a balance.
Q: Tell us a bit about your Independent Study project?
A: My I.S. looks at sports medicine and how to use feedback from student-athletes
Q: Tell us a bit about something cool you did as a student at The College of Wooster?
A: The track and field spring break trips to Myrtle Beach allow us to compete against around 40 schools, with many being Div. I. I have consistently placed in the top seven in my events. The travel was not the best last year because our bus broke down. We were stuck for like four hours, but we threw a football and danced in a parking lot while we waited for help and it was a good bonding moment. Despite the travel struggles I placed third in an event and was ranked eighth in Div. III for the opening week of the season. We spend an entire week in Myrtle Beach, have team bonding opportunities, and stay in a nice resort. It is genuinely just a great time.
Q: Reflecting back on your time at Wooster, what advice would you give your first-year self?
A: Time management is mandatory and procrastinating is not.
Interested in becoming a Fighting Scot?
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