{"id":9312,"date":"2022-02-03T08:10:36","date_gmt":"2022-02-03T13:10:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/?p=9312"},"modified":"2022-02-03T08:10:37","modified_gmt":"2022-02-03T13:10:37","slug":"investing-in-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/2022\/02\/03\/investing-in-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Investing in the Future"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Georgia Southern Helps Alumnus Find his Pathway to Success<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Tim Wilkerson (\u201891) loved playing football under legendary coach Erk Russell. The defensive back joined the Eagles in the late \u201880s and graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in management. For the last 25 years, he has worked at The Home Depot where he is the senior vice president of home services. An only child, Wilkerson says he is grateful for the role his mother and the football legend played in shaping his character and leadership abilities. He has stayed connected to his alma mater as a generous supporter of Eagle athletics, the Parker College of Business and as a member of the Athletic Foundation Board. In a discussion with Georgia Southern magazine, Wilkerson talked about Erk Russell, his career and Georgia Southern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GSM: You came to Georgia Southern to play football, but what inspired you to attend college in the first place?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Wilkerson: My parents did not attend college. I attended college because I thought that was the best option for me to be successful in life. I thought it was the best path that I could take to improve my situation and my mom\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GSM: What did Coach Erk Russell mean to you?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Wilkerson: Erk was one of the best leaders that I have ever had the privilege of knowing. His ability to interact and connect with the players was absolutely amazing. To put it in perspective, when I graduated from Georgia Southern, I went to work for Walmart and I was a sort of team lead with about 35 people reporting to me. It was my first time ever leading people so all I knew was what I learned from Erk and how he led our football team. So, for the first several years of my career, my management style emulated his coaching style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GSM: What does Georgia Southern mean to you?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Wilkerson: I wouldn\u2019t be where I am in my career without my Georgia Southern education. I have worked in retail my entire career and what I learned in my management classes and what I learned from my professors are things that I apply every day in business. And I could go on and on about my experiences in football. The level of excellence and the standard that was set on our football team were unparalleled. When I was at Georgia Southern, we never lost a home football game and that was a sense of pride that Erk established there. There\u2019s the social aspect as well. Sometimes, people don\u2019t realize how important it is to be able to network and connect with people, and build relationships and meet new people and establish common ground. Those are things you pick up walking on the grounds of Georgia Southern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GSM: You are an active supporter of the University, why is it important for you to give back to Georgia Southern financially?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Wilkerson: It is a way for me to show my gratitude and thanks for Georgia Southern and acknowledge the impact that it has made in my life. I also want to try to create a path that makes it easier for the students there. I want the school to be prosperous, to continue to advance, and continue to have a positive impact on students\u2019 lives. To do that, Georgia Southern needs funding to grow. I\u2019ve had the opportunity to listen to President Kyle Marrero who laid out his vision and strategy for the school over the next three to five years and I\u2019m fully on board with it. I also applaud Dr. Marrero and the staff for the progress they\u2019ve made in diversity. There are things that they say they\u2019re going to do and they actually get them done. They hold people accountable. So I\u2019ve been pleased with the progress that I\u2019ve seen and will continue to contribute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GSM: So what would you like both your personal and professional legacies to be?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Wilkerson: I think about that a lot. I want to make a difference. My journey, you know, I\u2019m a statistic, right? Raised by a single mom and raised in poverty. To be where I am in life now is just a blessing and a testament to what can happen regardless of where a person started if they have the right opportunities and the right guidance. So, my focus through Georgia Southern and other nonprofit organizations in which I\u2019m a member is helping at-risk youth and students to get an opportunity that they may not have otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GSM: Looking back over your career, what are some of the lessons that you have learned along the way?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Wilkerson: The biggest lesson that I\u2019ve learned along the way is not to be afraid of success. It is not something that is rare but is actually achievable. Do not be afraid of it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Georgia Southern Helps Alumnus Find his Pathway to Success Tim Wilkerson (\u201891) loved playing football under legendary coach Erk Russell. The defensive back joined the Eagles in the late \u201880s and graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in management. For the last 25 years, he has worked at The Home Depot where he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":9315,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[67],"class_list":["post-9312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-foundation","tag-winter-2022"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9312\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}