Name: Sam Baker
Hometown: Fincastle, Virginia
Major: Construction Engineering and Architectural Engineering
Relationship status: Single
Favorite book: Will Grayson Will Grayson
Favorite place to study on campus: Gorgas basement or NERC team rooms
Favorite place to eat in Tuscaloosa: My bed
What has your experience been like as an out-of-state student? “Before my graduating class, no one in my high school’s 50+ year history had ever come to UA, but there are three of us here from my graduating class of 117. I had never even been to the state until a few months after I graduated, but toured and fell in love. I’m only a day’s drive from home which is far enough to be completely on my own but close enough that I can get back if need be. I love every part of this school and can’t imagine having gone anywhere else.”
What clubs are you involved in? “I never had the opportunity to play men’s volleyball growing up due to a lack of opportunities, so I played club volleyball my freshman year here and look to play again this year. I also recently joined the American Society of Civil Engineers and Associated Builders and Contractors.”
What is your favorite part about going to Alabama sports games? “Well the number of home games or meets over the past two seasons that I’ve missed for Football, Soccer, Volleyball, Gymnastics, and Softball is likely still in the single digits collectively…it’s an obsession, really. But the reason I think I love going so much is that I get to vicariously live the dream of playing sports in front of supportive, passionate, and invested fans.”
What sport is your favorite? “SOFTBALL. Without a doubt. The 2008 USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year came through my high school and I am good friends with her little sister who is currently a Division 1 pitcher and so through that I became interested. Then when I came to Alabama I fell in love with the environment of the Rhoads House, the success of the program, and the sport in general.”
Describe your dream date. “Take a dinner picnic into the mountains in a pickup truck, park it somewhere with no one else, and sit in the back of it eating the picnic and watching the sunset and stars come out.”
Describe yourself in three words. “Pass the pepper.”
What do you like to do in your free time? “Run, read, and explore.”
What do you think is your best quality? “I’m never bored!”
What’s the best advice you have ever gotten? “You’re exactly who you’re supposed to be.”