Josh Garnett will never be seen without a W.W.J.D. bracelet on each wrist.

“I don’t even know how to explain it,” Garnett said. “It just means something to me.”

The Sturgis freshman said the bracelets serve as a reminder to keep

God with him and to listen to His guidance.

It was that divine guidance that brought him to Western, Garnett said.

He spent his senior year of high school in turmoil trying to decide where to go to college.

“I had to decide between Louisville and here,” Garnett said. “It made my head hurt.”

Garnett and his best friend from high school had always planned to attend the University of Louisville.

Ironically, all that changed when Garnett got a phone call from his best friend.

“I think God told him to give me a call,” Garnett said.

His friend’s continued attempts to persuade Garnett to go to U of L backfired. Garnett decided to become a Hilltopper.

“The things he was saying kept pushing me away from Louisville,” Garnett said.

His friend’s arguments weren’t the only things that drove him to Bowling Green.

“This campus just blew Louisville’s away as far as looks go,” Garnett said.

Garnett said adjusting to life at Western has been easy.

After spending four years juggling academics and playing point guard for his high school basketball team, time management isn’t a problem for Garnett.

“My time is balanced here,” Garnett said. “I’ve been doing that all my life.”

Garnett said he manages to squeeze in “me time” each day by shunning procrastination when it comes to academics.

And he hasn’t let the distance between Bowling Green and Louisville separate him from his best friend.

“I go to Louisville on the weekends,” he said. “I’m not putting it (U of L) down. It’s just not for me.”

Reach Adriane Hardin at [email protected].