Feb. 27, 2017
She prefers hard work to guarantees and Bach to Eminem.
If that doesn’t make Adel Wahner, a member of Generation Z, stand out from her peers, perhaps her position on Vanderbilt’s highly rated bowling team might.
On a squad with some of the biggest names in collegiate bowling, Wahner is the mystery woman, the unknown “X” factor in the Commodore lineup. Who is she and how did she wind up in the lead-off spot in Vanderbilt’s rotation?
It’s really not that complicated, Adel simply chose a road less traveled.
Born in the Marshall Islands while her parents were helping the United States government by studying weather patterns, she holds dual citizenship there and in the United States. Her father Paul’s positon as a meteorologist with the National Weather Service took the family back to Florida, then to Houston before ending up in Las Cruces, N.M.
“I grew up in a bowling alley,” she says with some exaggeration. “My parents bowled in leagues and I wasn’t good in any other sports. I liked to bowl and had a big break-through in a tournament when I was 10 which sparked my interest – being in the competitive environment rather than just house bowling.”
Her dad realized that she needed better coaching than he was able to provide and got her working with a top instructor in Florida, then hired two coaches when they arrived in Houston.
While she was knocking down bowling pins, she was also knocking down outstanding grades in the classroom and that combination put her on the recruiting radar of a number of college programs.
True to form, she did her research and “once I started digging into the facts it was Vanderbilt all the way for me.” She came within an eyelash of earning a coveted academic scholarship at Vandy (she had academic offers at other institutions) and showed up on campus with no expectations but a truckload of determination.
“My mindset coming in was I knew I was going to have to work if I wanted to bowl,” Adel recalls. “There was nothing guaranteed for me and I was going to have to put in the work and effort if I was going to travel or get to bowl if I did travel. I was starting with a fresh slate and if I wanted to be successful I was going to have to work.”
She liked that deal as it fit nicely into her young worldview.
“I try not to expect something, I like to have the attitude nothing is guaranteed. If I put in the effort I can get what I want out of it,” she says with a humble resolve. It is her secret sauce to success.
As she has inched her way into the Commodore lineup, one with a trio of the top-ranked bowlers in the NCAA, she appears to carry a calm that belies her freshman status.
“I hadn’t really thought of it that way but perhaps feeling nothing is owed to me I might carry a little less stress,” she reasons. “I obviously have expectations and goals but without feeling like anything is owed to me, my focus is more of working harder.
“Part of my game is trying to keep my poker face,” she continues. I don’t want other people to know what’s going on in my head. It is important to stay in the moment and keep calm.”
One source of her relaxation is enjoyment of reading and another is her love of music – especially classical music.
“I played percussion in my high school band and band gave me an appreciation for classical music.”
Adel’s major is currently undecided, as is her longer range life goal. She took an interesting psychology class during her first semester, stimulating enough that she is considering that as a possible major area of study. Another possibility is Medicine, Health and Society.
“I think psychology plays a big part in the game of bowling,” she says, the wheels turning at the possibility of a multi-tasking major – not a surprise coming from someone that understands that investing in hard work pays dividends in multiple ways.