By Sarah Turner, Sept. 28, 2023

Go to school. Fish. Repeat. That’s the life lived by University of Montevallo student Riley Underwood as he enters his senior year of his undergraduate studies. Underwood is also a member of UM’s Outdoor Scholars program and its wildly successful bass fishing team.

“I don’t really do much besides fish and go to school,” Underwood said.

Underwood is from Hoover, Alabama, about a 30-minute drive north from campus. He has been a part of the University’s Mass Communication program for all four of his years at Montevallo. “Getting to work with cameras and stuff, I find fun,” he said.

Being a part of the program for as long as he has, he says he’s pretty familiar with most of the department’s professors, but he’s loved every experience he’s had with Mr. Daniel Vest. “He’s just fun. He makes learning about this stuff interesting and fun.” He really enjoyed one of the classes he took in his junior year that Vest taught. Underwood and his classmates learned the technical side of an entire TV news production. “I just like Vest a lot.”

While he has enjoyed the Mass Communication program, Underwood admits that school just isn’t for him.

“I’ve never been good at school, so I’ve never really aspired to be a straight A student or something like that,” he said. “School’s always been one of those things that I like getting it done. I like having the education, but it’s not the most important thing to me.” 

Fishing Comes First

One thing that is important to Underwood is fishing. He is a member of the three-time Bass Pro Shops School of the Year bass fishing program here at UM. Underwood spoke about how he grew up fishing throughout high school, and was looking to find a place to continue that in college.

“Fishing brought me to Montevallo,” said Underwood. With over 60 members, Underwood’s teammates always give him someone to talk to. “The guys that I can kind of relate to are there. With being someone that likes to be outdoors and fish and hunt and stuff like that, there’s people there that you can really talk about those things with.”

Fishing brought me to Montevallo.

Riley Underwood

Underwood spends time with other Outdoor Scholars members at the program’s house on Shelby Street. The house is where all of their members go for program meetings, but it can also be used as a study space and hang out spot.

“Technically, I’m not even allowed to show anybody the Outdoor Scholars house,” said Underwood, “but I will admit, that’s a pretty cool little spot.” The house is decorated with deer heads, turkeys, and other game that is representative of the activities that the program takes part in. Underwood says he feels like “you don’t typically see that on a college campus.”

Rod casting to the future

Underwood said he had big goals for himself coming out of high school. “One thing I really wanted to do while I was here was win a college tournament or at least place in one,” he said, “they’re a little harder than I expected them to be.”

Despite the team’s success, Underwood says he has found it difficult to find his own individual success.

“That’s something that I really wanted to do, that I haven’t been able to do, probably won’t be able to do, most likely,” Underwood explains, commenting on the fact that he is a senior.

As Underwood gets closer to graduation, he admits there are some things he would’ve done differently during his time at Montevallo.

“Freshman year, I feel like I went to class and was like, ‘I’m not gonna talk to anybody, we’re just not gonna make eye contact with anybody,’” he said. “Senior year it’s like, whatever, I’ll either be friends with these people forever, or I’m never going to see them again.”

Because the Department of Communication is relatively small, students usually have classes with a similar group of people each semester. He wishes he had spent more time getting to know the people around him.

“Reach out to the people in your class,” he said. “I feel like that makes a big difference, I wish I had done that freshman year from the get-go.”