An artist in shoulder pads

Senior football captain Jake Pecina only allows a few thoughts to enter his mind before a kickoff or punt. He knows that if he lets his mind wander, the years of skill and routine he has built in this motion will be for nothing.

The same focus that Pecina uses to make a kick under pressure is found in another, completely different area of his life: his artwork. 

Pecina grew up around Dallas and knew that he wanted to be an architect from the time he was little. He spent his childhood building Lego sets and wondering which career would allow him to have the same kind of fun every day.

Since Augustana doesn’t have a specific architecture program, Pecina enrolled in math and art classes during his first year on campus. 

“I was skeptical at first, just because I didn't consider myself an artistic person,” Pecina said. 

His first art class at Augustana was a drawing class, which didn’t pique his interest. Design changed that.

“I started figuring out my style and the way that I like to do things and the patterns I like to create,” Pecina said. “I lean a lot back into my mathematical background, so a lot of that is straight lines, geometric shapes, linear objects and patterns.”

It wasn't until he took box art with professor John Peters that Pecina said he started loving art. 

“At one point in that class, you have to make your own box, and wood is usually a really common medium to use, and I realized that he was pretty good at doing things with wood,” Peters said. 

Pecina’s approach was especially apparent in the processional cross he created for the Chapel of Reconciliation. He chose the wood carefully and set 39 pieces of stained glass in the cross to represent the 39 lashes Jesus received. 

Peters said Pecina’s work is bold and meaningful. “A lot of times, athletes are hard to work with because of their schedules, because they're forced into doing so many things,” he said. “But also, there's a discipline that they learn, too, in that.”

Pecina also consulted football coach Jerry Olszewski while drafting ideas for the cross. Olszewski said it’s humbling to watch Pecina grow in his faith.

“He loves Jesus and he truly is one that walks the walk, not just talks it,” Olszewski said. 

Olszewski said that as a captain, Pecina is a strong voice on the team and wisely knows when something needs to be said, if at all. Pecina believes his role is being the person that team members can lean on and trust to talk about life — not just football. 

“I want to be the guy who says how it is, in the efforts to make you better, you know, not to put you down or anything, because I never want to put anybody down,” Pecina said. “But to say the stuff that needs to be said in order to build a person up and to grow.”

Olszewski believes Pecina exemplifies Augustana’s core values like no other student on campus. 

“He is a poster child for Augustana. Like, that's what all of our students should embody, in my opinion,” Olszewski said. 

Pecina will graduate in December after four years of growing as a friend, artist, mathematician and follower of Jesus. 

“I'm capable of more than I realized and originally thought for myself,” Pecina said.