A Winning Smile
Williams hopes to take high school success into dentistry field
Sometimes inspiration can come from unexpected sources.
For Smackover’s George Williams, wanting to go into pre-dentistry stems from personal experience coupled with one of television’s most successful dramas.
A standout in football and track at Smackover, Williams graduated with a 3.96 grade-point average.
But his chosen career path comes from having to have plenty of dental work done, including the unpleasant experience of having not one, but two root canals done.
“I used to go to the dentist a lot, and they said everybody would be scared when they were working on their teeth, but I had my eyes wide open just watching them work on my mouth,” Williams said. “I think it’s pretty cool.”
Williams, who will be headed to Arkansas, is also a fan of “Grey’s Anatomy,” the long-running medical drama that got him interested in going into the medical profession.
“There’s a bunch of doctors on that show, and a whole bunch of crazy stuff happens,” Williams said. “You have to be chill about it. You’ve got to keep your cool. You’ve got to know what you’re doing. That’s something I wanted to do.”
In addition to his athletic and academic accomplishments, Williams is also a musician, specializing in drums, although he played bass guitar in the past.
Had football not interceded,
Williams would’ve had the chance to be a part of Smackover’s band.
“I love playing the drums,” Williams said. “I listened to a bunch of music growing up. I wanted to be in band, but I also wanted to play football, so I chose football.”
Williams said his parents pushed him to succeed in the classroom.
“I would come home from school every day and I would have this math book,” Williams said. “There would be timetables in the back. I would have to do three pages every night before I could do what I wanted to do.”
Being in competition for nearly the entire school year can make managing classes and athletics difficult, but Williams stayed on top of everything by being proactive.
“Don’t procrastinate. Don’t wait until the last minute to do everything,” Williams said on how he was able to balance academics and athletics. “You have to have your grades. It’s important to have your grades and it’s good to play sports. Some people just want to play sports and not worry about the grades, but why be good at one thing when you can be good at two?”
In addition, Williams is also heavily involved with several clubs at school that have done work in the community.
“It means a lot to me,” Williams said. “I want to show kids younger than me that you can do a bunch of things and help the community.”
Whether in football or track, Williams’
versatility shines.
In track, Williams runs the 100-meter dash and is also a member of the 4x100 relay team. He also is an accomplished pole vaulter, having won the outright district title as a sophomore and junior before tying for first this spring.
So why choose the pole vault? “Just the thought of a pole flinging you into the air, it’s pretty cool,” Williams said. “I decided I wanted to do it, and I was pretty good at it.”
Adding to Williams’ success in track, the Bucks finished fifth at the state meet in the 4x100.
“Honestly, it felt amazing,” Williams said. “Seeing your guys run as fast as they can as a team, it’s a great feeling.”
A two-way standout for the Bucks on the gridiron, Williams caught 10 passes for 129 yards as a wide receiver while making 38 tackles with an interception as a member of the secondary.
Although the Bucks had a new coach in Mike Baysinger, Williams said the transition was a smooth one.
“Coach Baysinger and coach (Patrick) House, I think they were two of the best coaches I’ve ever had,” Williams said. “They showed me a lot of things. In the mornings before school, they would have meetings for us if we had questions that would help us out.”
Smackover finished the season with a 7-5 record, beating Lamar in the first round of the playoffs before falling just short at Mayflower, but Williams thought the Bucks exceeded expectations.
“I was proud of what we did,” Williams said. “We came together as a team and accomplished way more than what the community thought we could do.”