Andrew Villiger
What was the most rewarding experience you had as a Wake Forest student?
As a student, the most rewarding experience for me was getting to take classes in my major. I really feel at home in the Health and Exercise Science (HES) department. It is so cool to take classes that I am genuinely so interested in and excited about. I am mostly thankful for all of the close relationships that I have made with my professors. It is so awesome to be able to walk around the HES building and be greeted by name by many of the professors. It really feels like a big family in the HES department. I am close with many of my classmates and feel seen and loved by all of my professors. I think that this is an experience that could only happen at Wake and I am so grateful for it.
Who most impacted your Wake Forest experience?
My time at Wake has been impacted most by older students who took the time to invest in me as an underclassman. Their kindness and willingness to invite me into their lives played a large role in how I decided to spend my time at Wake and how I developed my values. I am so grateful to everyone who took interest in me as a new first-year student and poured into me as a person. As I enter my final semester at Wake, I have spent a lot of time thinking about how I can take the time to love younger students and invite them into the community at Wake.
Wake Forest has lots of traditions, and sometimes students create their own. Do you have a favorite Wake Forest tradition?
My favorite tradition at Wake is Hit the Bricks. It is such a fun tradition to get to spend the whole day on the quad running with friends and getting to be competitive for a great cause. It is something that I look forward to every year and I’m so sad that I won’t get to participate anymore as a student.
What was your favorite class outside your major or minor areas of study and why did it appeal to you?
My favorite class that I have taken outside of my major is Arts and Innovation with Steve Nedvidek and Cindy Gendrich. This was an entrepreneurship class that I took for fun and ended up loving. Professor Nedvidek was able to share his experiences with us from working at Chick-fil-A. We talked about the things that will actually be important for us as we enter into the next season of our lives after graduation. I could tell that for Professor Nedvidek and Dr. Gendrich, this was a class that they truly wanted to teach because they care for us as students and want us to be great people and have success wherever we end up in the next year.
What non-academic experience at Wake Forest was most meaningful to you?
I think that the most meaningful experience for me non-academically is just the community and relationships that I have had here at Wake. I feel so blessed to have so many great people in my life at Wake that care for and love me. I really enjoy all of the things that I get to do at Wake like going to football games or intramurals, but it is the people that I get to do these things with that has made my experience truly special.