Riley Wells is an involvement mentor at the Student Involvement and Leadership Center (SIL) for Wright State University (WSU).
“I would say my biggest inspiration is the people and the connections. I’m someone that thrives off of building connections with people and getting to know new people,” Wells said.
Wells is a junior at WSU, studying for her bachelor's degree in business marketing. Even before she arrived on campus her freshman year, she was drawn in by the people she saw on campus.
“When touring [different colleges], I think I toured like six schools. [WSU] was the only one I genuinely saw people smiling on campus. I knew I wanted to go somewhere that [felt] like home, and this is the only school that I toured that felt like that,” Wells said.
Wells is a local first-generation student from Fairborn and the first person in her family to graduate on time from high school. As a family-oriented person, WSU gave Wells the opportunity to branch out on her own without going too far from her home. When she arrived on campus, Wells was hesitant at first to join different organizations, but was encouraged to branch out and experience what WSU has to offer.
Now in her junior year, Wells is a WSU Admission Ambassador, Co-President of the Residential Community Association (RCA), Director of Marketing for the University Activities Board, a member of the Dean Student Advisory Board for the Raj Soin College of Business, the Vice President of outreach for the National Residence Hall Honorary and the RCA Regional Conference Chair for WSU.
Through her positions, Wells has developed her ability to connect with the people around her in order to build a larger community. Her years at WSU have only nurtured Wells’s desire to help the people around her and her interest in the lives of others.
“I [enjoy] getting to know people, and getting to know where they come from, where they want to go,” Wells said.
Wells’s curiosity is also strongly linked to one of her biggest inspirations. Being surrounded by so much diversity on WSU’s campus gives her the determination to experience new opportunities and encourage others to make the most of the opportunities that are available to them.
Outside of campus life, Wells’s positions have encouraged her to shift her career focus toward working within a college to make better opportunities for students.
“[I have] done the marketing for SIL for two years, and I want to continue with that. My plan right now is to graduate with my bachelor’s in business marketing, and then go into Student Affairs for my Master’s," Wells said.
When asked what advice she would give to students who were scared to reach out, Wells encouraged students to be okay with being scared and to find at least one person to rely on and talk to.
“I think I would tell people who are scared [to] just take the first step. Something that I truly believe in is [people] grow most from the things that you’re scared to do,” Wells said.
As a student and as a leader, Wells accomplishments provide insite into what can be achieved when a person explores the world around them.
