Speaker Series Sparks Interest

Patrick Wuebben, Under Armour Baseball Factory Regional Player Development Coordinator, earned a standing ovation as the first guest lecturer in a newly revived lecture series — Photo by Claire Wickenhaeuser.

Last week, OVS welcomed its first guest speaker of the year, Patrick Wuebben. The Lower Campus joined Upper students in the lecture hall for a riveting and hilarious performance by the Under Armour Baseball Factory Regional Player Development Coordinator.

Mr. Wuebben is the first of a series of guest lecturers who have been invited to speak at OVS by Craig Floyd. As part of his new role as the school’s director of strategic initiatives, Mr. Floyd decided to revive the guest lecture series, which had waned in recent years.

Mr. Floyd got to know Wuebben through his son, Connor Floyd. Wuebben has worked with Connor on his baseball career for the past several years and participated in several Baseball Factory camps.

Wuebben however, did not just talk about baseball during his speech. He started the night off with a bang by rapping about his Wii and then dropping a beat like no other. He also told several stories that had the students laughing.

By the end of the night, he was standing on the desks and receiving a standing ovation while students chanted “Patrick! Patrick!” He promptly sent a video to his wife.

However, his speech conveyed much more than silly stories. Wuebben encouraged the students to follow their dreams in a motivational and personal talk.

Over the past few years, he has given seven or eight motivational speeches about pursuing dreams – something that he is passionate about and wishes someone had told him when he was younger.

“There’s always going to be somebody, whether it’s somebody really close to you, a father or a sibling, or a teacher, somebody’s going to doubt you,” Wuebben said. “This is the dream you have. Don’t worry about what anybody else says. That’s something that I still hold onto to this day and I hope that you and everybody that listened will follow their dreams and never give up on them.”