Scott Vieth is a former Beacon editor-in-chief who has spent over 20 years as a collegiate athletics coach. He is currently the head men’s and women’s tennis coach at Wilkes.
Embrace Your Inner Nerd
What makes you tick? What’s your guilty pleasure? What’s that one thing that you do that’s not the same as everyone else? Whatever it is, embrace it.
Being a student-athlete is a grind. It’s not just the practices and the games. It’s the weight room, it’s team meetings, it’s volunteering with your team, it’s helping your coaches with recruiting. It’s balancing athletics and academics. And, it’s a lot.
But it’s not the whole of who you are as a person.
I’ve seen a great deal of athletes neglect their “inner nerd” for one reason or another. They’re embarrassed by their side interest. They don’t want to stand out for something that doesn’t really matter to everyone else. Or maybe they just don’t make time for themselves.
Is it reading romance novels? Is it collecting Pokemon cards? Is it drawing pictures of Disney cartoon characters?
Whatever it is, it’s cool. And it’s part of what makes you a valued member of the team.
When I was a student-athlete, I was into collecting autographs. I would go to minor league games in Moosic to meet ballplayers after the game, or I would hang out by the back door of the Kirby Center when a big performer was done with their show to get a signature. I thought it was what made me weird.
It wasn’t until I saw a teammate of mine at the same baseball game doing the same thing that I even considered that autograph collecting, my “inner nerd,” could be a way to connect with other students.
Within a semester, we had a group of a half-dozen Wilkes football autograph hounds that went to games and events together.
I lost interest in collecting autographs years ago, and I’ve lost touch with some of those teammates. But one of those guys is still among my closest friends from college.
It wasn’t about autograph collecting. It was about a sense of community and belonging.
Whatever your inner nerd is, you’re probably not the only one. And, if you are the only one, there’s a lot worse names you can be called than “unique.”
Your Vibes Attract Your Tribe
College is a time of exploration. It’s a time to learn more about yourself and what makes your clock tick.
We all try things in college that we’ve never done before. We all do things in college that we will never do again. You’d be hard pressed to find a Wilkes alum who doesn’t agree with that. It’s normal.
Where students often get into trouble in their self-exploration is being disingenuous. Pretending to like something you don’t just for a chance to meet new people or make new friends isn’t so bad. It’s when you treat others in a way that doesn’t represent your character and your beliefs that can have long-lasting negative consequences.
Your vibes attract your tribe. How you talk, who you act, how you treat others, and how you choose to be treated: These are the qualities that will lead to lasting relationships. Whether you chose to be part of a club, major, or organization for the long term is less likely to impact how folks feel about you than how you treated them when you interacted with them.
Try new things. That’s fine. That’s college. But do your best to be who you are and treat others the way you want to be treated.
Coaches: do you have interesting insights to share? Contact the assistant sports editor Jake Mills or the managing editor Andrew Marshallsay to get featured in future editions of “The Coaches Corner.”