Fleetio Public Relations and Communications Manager Clark Maxwell remembers his days on the brick streets of the University of Montevallo as nothing short of magical.
“I’ve come across alumni all over the country and I have yet to meet one that didn’t smile when they talked about their time in college,” Maxwell said. “Montevallo is a magical place and we all still have that magic in us, no matter how long it’s been since we left those brick streets.”
Maxwell, a Decatur native and incoming president of the Junior Board at Montevallo, earned his bachelor’s degrees in art and communication studies at UM in 2013. His minors were in art history and public relations.
Prior to working for Fleetio, a Birmingham-based fleet management and maintenance software company, he started his career out of college doing marketing and PR at the Birmingham Zoo where he worked for eight years.
He said the classes he took at Montevallo influenced his decision to start a career in marketing and public relations. Also having an art background helped him create designs for marketing and public relations campaigns.
It wasn’t just the classes he took at UM that shaped his future. It was his overall experience.
“The University of Montevallo gave me a vast array of opportunities,” he said. “A huge part of my undergraduate career was spent with extracurricular activities, which shaped me into who I am today.”
“From College Night (GV!), to guiding tours, to being a member of Alpha Kappa Lambda, I learned how to work well with others, lead a team to carry out a common goal and have fun while doing it all. These are attributes that I have carried with me into my professional career.”
He said his favorite memories at Montevallo are of hanging out with his friends in the residence halls, laughing in the cafeteria and throwing a frisbee on the quad.
Memories like those are a big part of what makes students feel like they’re right where they are meant to be, he said.
“UM alumni are more than simply a group of people that all graduated from the same institution, we’re a community – a community that cares about one another, that has shared experiences, even if we graduated decades apart. We all walked, and maybe tripped, down those brick streets.”
