Editor's Note: This feature will appear in the 2015 Atlantic Sun Conference Women's Basketball Championship Program.
 
KENNESAW, Ga. – As a senior on the Kennesaw State women's basketball team, Kristina Wells is looked upon as a leader in the way she plays on the court, but also how she communicates and interacts with her teammates and coaches off the court.
 
A psychology major in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Wells has always been interested in the behaviors and personalities of others and what exactly makes a person tick. It is an interest she shares with her grandmother, Francis Cooper, a psychologist with whom Kristina has had conversations with about how and why people act and think as they do.
 
"She has impacted me a lot," says Wells of her grandmother. "She took care of me like my own mother and taught me to branch out and learn the different things that make people interesting."
 
Following graduation in the spring, Wells plans to return to school to pursue a master's degree in marriage and family therapy (MFT), with the hopes of also earning her PhD in the future.
 
"I chose psychology because I am interested in keeping a family together," Wells says. "That has always been my thing, sticking it out and working it out. Trying to find ways to talk things out and just stay together in both marriages and families."
 
Understanding people; it is a trail that Wells feels is one of her strengths as a basketball player and as a person.
 
"Knowing that every individual is different and that everybody has a different personality and that they react to things differently is important," says the Douglasville, Georgia native. "It helps us on the court because we need everybody and talking with each person and helping them bring out the best in themselves is what makes a team successful."
 
Wells prides herself on and enjoys being able to talk with any of her Owl teammates to help guide them on the court, in the classroom and in life.
 
"I feel as though I can talk personally to any individual on my team," says Wells. "They listen to what I have to say and may develop new thoughts or ideas, or will at least take what I have to say to heart. It feels good to know that my teammates value what I have to say and that I want to help."
 
For Wells, helping her teammates is just practice for life beyond college and the Kennesaw State women's basketball team.
 
To keep up with the latest Kennesaw State women's basketball news follow the team on Twitter @KSUOwlNation and @KSUOwlsWBB or by liking Kennesaw State University on Facebook.