Catching Up With Donovan Williams '22

7/24/2023

Donovan Williams headed off to Wheaton College a year ago with the highest of hopes and the greatest of expectations.

As a freshman at the NCAA Division III signatory located 25 miles west of Chicago, the 2022 Collegiate graduate planned to compete, perhaps start, in two varsity level sports and excel in the coursework of his academic major, music composition.

After all, in high school he earned multiple All-Prep League and All-VISAA honors as a running back in football and outfielder in baseball and established himself as a preternaturally talented, instinctive, creative violinist and composer who performed not just locally but nationally and even overseas.

If he could do it all at Collegiate, he figured, he could in college as well.

Things didn’t turn out exactly as he intended, though, but Williams, after several fits and starts, is 100 percent game for the challenges ahead and better, he says, for the ones he’s already faced. Such is the mindset of a 5-6, 175-pound athlete who’s been knocked down before but always bounced back up, dusted himself off, and jumped back into the fray.

“Honestly, I describe my freshman year as both a train wreck and one of the best years of my life,” he said. “I came in with some pride in me because I was going to be a two-sport athlete. I thought I’d be the big man on campus, so to speak. I was humbled.

“I’d been fortunate enough to have all these experiences with music in high school. I’d been writing my music for a while. My violin teacher (Dr. Lee Joiner) approached me with different techniques. It seemed like things weren’t working. We had many tough conversations.

“I’m just grateful for his patience. I’m grateful for the patience of my classmates. Getting my ego out of the way so I could connect with people was one of the most valuable lessons I learned.”

In the fall, Williams dressed only for home varsity football games but got playing time on the Thunder’s JV squad. He made the travel roster in baseball, saw action in eight games, collected four hits in six at-bats, scored four runs, and stole one base.

One afternoon recently following a stint as a Collegiate Summer Quest counselor, he sat in the Jacobs Gym and offered thoughts, insights, and reflections about his journey.

Speak about the transition to college life with a full athletic and academic load.

Football was going to be a key component of my experience at Wheaton. I wanted to come in and give everything I had and compete for a spot from the get-go. I spent the entire summer training for football, lifting four times a week, running three times a week. Went up in July for the team day. I felt that dedicating the entire summer to football was going to set me up best for getting through camp. As much as I prepared, going through pre-season in college football is a completely different level.

Everybody coming to Wheaton to play football was a big-time dude in their high school careers. We had nine super-talented running backs (including a two-time All-American, Giovanni Weeks). Three seniors are playing behind him. I was grateful for the opportunity to play on the JV, but it was not what I expected.

How did you manage when things didn’t evolve as you expected?

That was definitely a challenge. I was discouraged. I came in with the expectation that just because I worked so hard, it was going to have an opportunity to play right away. That didn’t happen, and I struggled through camp and watched the other guys who were older and more experienced getting more playing time. That was a place I needed to grow.

Did you ever think you were over your head?

There were definitely times throughout the year when I thought, Gosh, this is too much. I don’t know how I’ll be able to continue doing this. I kept hitting walls. It was really my teammates that supported me and the promise I made to myself that I was going to see it through.

I’m pretty outspoken about my relationship with Jesus. I just prayed and talked to my parents. Whenever I thought about quitting, I would always get a message from a teammate saying that what I was doing was inspiring. It was those little moments that kept me going. Whether I become an every-down back or a team culture guy for football, I enjoy being part of that team and being with the guys.

Will you juggle two sports and academics this coming year?

Absolutely. It’s definitely something I see myself pushing through my entire time at Wheaton.

You hit the wall and kept on going plenty of times as a high school athlete. Seems like that was preparation for real life.

I definitely have to rely on my grit that God gave me throughout my time at Collegiate. I feel like my grit was broken at Wheaton, and I really had to rely on my faith and my teammates.

The networks that I’m part of allow me to reach and relate to people better. Being at Wheaton has embodied being an ambassador for Christ. What that means to me is showing people every day the Holy Spirit and love and kindness and ministering to them. That is life-giving to me. Playing sports and doing music allows me to have that reach.

Speak about the time management skills you developed early on.

Retrospectively, time management felt like less of an issue than it did in high school. What was great for me is being a music major, 95 percent of my classes are related to music. Music is pretty much my life. It’s fun being able to go to school and fully dive into what I love to do and feel like I’m called to do. That helped me approach my studies better.

Classes were longer in college than they were in high school, but I took fewer classes. I was usually done by 12:30 or 1 Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and 2:15 Tuesday and Thursday. Practice would usually go from 4 to 6:30 or 7. I always did my homework first before I went to hang out or got in a snowball fight or a Nerf gun war or whatever we found ourselves doing. Time management, fortunately, was much of an issue for me.

Seems like you found important lessons in the challenges.

Yes. One thing they teach in the football program is dying to yourself which means relinquishing all the things you thought were amazing in high school. It’s removing the sense of self-entitlement. The team believes that we’re called to use our talents to minister to other people and glorify God to the best of our ability. That’s what die in yourself mantra was about: relinquishing the selfishness. That was my biggest lesson and something I’m going to continue to learn every day.

So from the tough experiences, you’re a better person?

Definitely. I would love to play more, but I think my biggest growing point will be mental toughness and my approach to the games from the cerebral aspect and having more confidence in the ability that God has given to me. However things pan out, I’m just grateful to be doing what I’m doing, and I hope that I’m able to reach people with the effort.

I know I’ll continue to learn lessons. I’ll continue to humble myself. I’ll continue to be open minded and accept the lessons I learn. I’m definitely glad that God brought that realization to me, and I hope that I continue to have the mindset to push forward and be humble and give life to people.

~Weldon Bradshaw

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