Jayden Wilson ’27: Working Through The Hours

Over 100 students walk into the weight room at the Student Rec Center on any given day. Some swipe in and focus on their workouts, while others stop to ask attendants for guidance. Regardless, the weight room serves as both a fitness space and a social hub — at least through the eyes of Jayden Wilson ’27, a manager for Strength & Conditioning.

“My freshman year, I would come here to work out a lot, and I saw the attendants walking around, having fun, making good jokes, making friends,” Wilson said. “I want to be part of that, especially because before this job, I hardly had any friends, and I wanted to make that better for myself; so, I applied for the Rec attendant position my freshman year, and I got it.”

From his freshman year, it has been an upward climb — from weight room attendant to head attendant to manager. Wilson, a public health major from Bastrop County, plans to attend medical school. But behind those aspirations lies a quieter, more sublime desire: translating what he learned at the Rec into his professional life. Wilson conducts interviews, trainings and onboardings across all levels of Strength & Conditioning.

“Conducting all of those interviews, going through all those interview answers and questions, having those conversations with the interviewees, it’s going to help me a lot in the future when I’m fully practicing as a physician and I have to take to mentor and take care of everyone that’s under me,” Wilson said.

As a Strength & Conditioning manager Wilson is responsible for overseeing 150 staff members, conducting interviews, scheduling shifts and assisting in evaluations for future promotions. He is one of the managers within a group of three and to Wilson it is important to have consistency and open communication with his team.

“He was able to be the glue between all three of them,” said DJ Scott, assistant director of Strength & Conditioning. “His temperament is one of ease. He doesn’t really get too high or too low about most things. Jayden looks to them, doesn’t try to overstep them [but] actually goes to them to ask for help with things he doesn’t fully understand.”

Scott said Wilson had a good voice which helped him take on the role of not only manager but a role of mentor to the lower level staff.

“I would say one of my expectations was we needed people to really be a voice for the lower levels, while also balancing being a good mentor for them,” Scott said. “[Wilson] was able to really step into that position and talk to all of his peers, figure out what they needed, but also lay the law of this is what we need from you in return.”

Wilson took his work seriously, putting in the hours and going the extra mile to learn about his staff so he could provide accurate evaluations, all while helping those around him learn the trade.

“I am always on top of answering messages from the leadership team,” Wilson said. “I’m always contributing ideas. I’m always on top of my work and making sure that it gets done, not only in a timely manner, but in an efficient manner too. It’s one thing to get done on time, but if you’re not getting quality work, it’s just not going to work.”

Staff evaluations aren’t decided by a single opinion; they draw on input from peers, supervisors and management. Wilson leaned into that, coming in at different hours to truly understand the faces behind each shift. By the time promotions or disciplinary decisions came around, he was able to offer clarity and details that might have otherwise slipped through the cracks.

“For Jayden, he was understanding where people were, he was understanding the amount of hours they were doing and he was working with his team to get that data compiled,” Scott said. “From there, Jayden would sit down with us and talk about each person, the people we weren’t able to catch and tell us way more detail that you often would not be able to give people who took it as, ‘I can do the bare minimum.’”

Beyond the evaluations, teamwork and managerial skills, Wilson looks forward to the connections he has built.

“We get about roughly 1 million to 1.5 million patrons coming into the weight room each year,” Wilson said. “Walking the floors a lot through my four years here, and having those conversations and relationships with a lot of the patrons, not only the staff members, but the people that come in to work out every day has been meaningful for me.”

Sometimes those connections become moments of guidance. Wilson’s role as a mentor extends not only to the staff he supervises but also to the patrons.

“I was helping a patron learn how to do a pull up and being able to coach them through those things slowly with an open mindset and open communication,” Wilson said. “I feel like I was able to take a lot away from that, and it’s nice to be able to come into the weight room every day and be able to just be there for that person that might need help.”

Wilson helped someone during a seizure as his team and staff worked calmly and collectively to handle the emergency. The teamwork, the trust within his team and the connections he has made have supported him through emergencies, everyday life and his future career.

“I’ve always looked at this job as a paid social [organization],” Wilson said. “One of the things I’ll be most grateful for is the relationships and all the lifelong friends that I’ve made from this job. A lot of these people that I’ve worked with over the years have encouraged me to be a better person every day, and that’s something I’m going to be super grateful for moving forward.”