Weli Alamillo '18: 'I Instantly Knew I Could Live Here'

For Weli Alamillo ‘18, academics came first.

Alamillo has been playing soccer since he was 4 or 5, so the chance to keep going at the collegiate level was appealing.

Pacific University’s NCAA Division III program was more appealing.

“Division III has more of an academic focus, and that’s what I wanted,” Alamillo said. “I knew it was a good fit for me.”

With about one in five incoming undergraduates hailing from Hawai‘i, Alamillo also knew Pacific would be a good fit culturally.

“I knew I wanted to go away to college, but I wasn’t sure I’d fit in,” he said. “I had friends here and I visited, and I instantly knew I could live here.”

He since has joined Na Haumana O Hawai‘i and danced in the annual Lu‘au.

Alamillo is interested in the medical field, but he wasn’t sure what his major would be. Enter his advisor, Professor Juliet Brosing, an award-winning physics teacher.

“It was so interesting to look at things and explain everything,” he said. “It’s interesting to learn and you can still do a lot: medical physics, engineering. I have lots of choices.”

After he declared his physics major as a sophomore, Brosing encouraged Alamillo to apply for at least five summer internships, and he landed one at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, where he spent Summer 2016 studying biophysics.

“I was pretty shocked,” he said. “We’re taking particles from plants, silicone, and finding ways to put them into electronics.

“It’s definitely a new experience.”

At Pacific University, student-athletes are known for their involvement in a wide variety of campus and community activities beyond the sports arena. Check out more stories about our Boxer athletes.