Though Brandon Wilson ’14 began his college search in California — far, far away from his hometown of Cary, N.C., — he feels lucky to have ended up at Campbell, where his father is an associate professor of music.
Brandon Wilson planned to attend college far away from his hometown of Cary, N.C. How far? He started his college search in California. But, Campbell University had excellent exercise science and foreign language programs, and it gave him the chance to play NCAA Division I baseball. So he ended up a little closer to home than planned — just a 45-minute drive from Cary.
“Although I had aspirations of traveling far from home, I believe that Campbell provided me the best programs for my combination of interests,” said Wilson, who graduated Saturday with undergraduate degrees in exercise science and Spanish.
Wilson has long been familiar with Campbell. His father, Dwayne Wilson, has been the director of bands and instrumental studies at Campbell since 2000. Though Brandon grew up playing the piano and percussion instruments, music has always been more of a hobby for him, he said.
When he was in high school, at Cary Academy, he got to know the school’s strength and conditioning coach, Eric Moore, who designed a resistance training plan for him. That spurred his interest in issues related to human performance and the human body, including exercise science. “The atmosphere in the weight room at Cary Academy developed my affinity to exercise training and a rehabilitation environment.”
His time at Campbell has further enhanced that affinity. Here, he was a pitcher on the baseball team for four years and served as a Spanish and exercise physiology tutor. He was also part of two research project teams, the most recent of which looked at the breakfast habits of college students. In addition, he spent his summer breaks shadowing physical therapists. And with a 4.0 GPA, he was a member of the Phi Kappa Phi and Sigma Delta honor societies. For his achievements, he received the Big South Conference’s prestigious George A. Christenberry Award for Academic Excellence.
In the fall, he’ll begin the Doctor of Physical Therapy program at the University of Florida. “Knowing that my quality of life is highly dependent on the ability to move and be active was the impetus to seek a career where I can serve others, helping them maintain and improve their capacity to move and live an active lifestyle,” he said.
Though he’ll go a little further away from home for graduate school, Wilson said he feels lucky to have spent four years at Campbell with his father. “It has been an honor attending a college where my dad is a faculty member,” Wilson said. “He is the most dedicated and caring man I know, and I have been fortunate to learn from him as my mentor and role model.” —Cherry Crayton