By Amy Jones-Timoney, Kendall Randolph, and Kody Kiser

It’s clear that University of Kentucky football wide receiver Charles Walker is guided by an unbridled work ethic.

After beginning his college career as a walk-on, the Louisville native earned a scholarship last fall.

“I felt like I had the chip on my shoulder to come in and work a little bit harder than the next person,” Walker said.

But that work ethic doesn’t end on the football field.

Walker is currently working towards a double major in finance and marketing in the Gatton College of Business and Economics, earning multiple spots on the SEC Academic Honor Roll along the way.

“I’ve been on the dean’s list I believe every semester I’ve been here and I have a 3.89 GPA,” said Walker, a senior who played 13 games last season and caught four passes for 34 yards, an average of 8.5 yards per reception. He was also a three-year starter at powerhouse St. Xavier High School.

But it’s not the numbers or awards that motivate him.

“I like the connection I can get with the teachers and my fellow students,” said Walker. “I finally feel like I am learning about finance and marketing, learning about things that are applicable to real life and that’s just cool to me.”

Walker plans to use his finance and marketing experience to follow in his father’s footsteps and work in the insurance industry after graduation.

UK Public Relations and Marketing intern Kendall Randolph sat down with Walker, who happens to be his teammate and friend, to talk to him about balancing success on and off the field. Watch why Walker says there is one cell phone video he will never delete as he talks about what it meant for him to go from walk-on to scholarship player status.

Amy Jones-Timoney, Kendall Randolph, and Kody Kiser write for UK Now.

Video produced by UK Public Relations and Marketing.