President of Otto Tunes works with group to give back to community

One of the best moments of TJ Wells’s life was running out of Hendricks Chapel with the rest of his a cappella group, right after their International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella performance, knowing they had just dominated for twelve minutes.

“We were all hugging, laughing, some of us crying, and it was just this amazing feeling we could all feel, just an incredible moment,” he said.

The senior advertising major said once he graduated high school, he thought he would never sing again. Fast forward four years, and he’s now the president of Otto Tunes for a second year. Wells reflected on his freshman year, when he said the only way he would sing at college was if the musical “Rent” was performed. The First Year Players show that year was just that.

From there, he decided to join an a cappella group because he wanted some type of brotherhood. The Remembrance Scholar said he likes the idea of putting on shows and entertaining people while also having fun. He explained that Otto Tunes is one of the most important things in his life, and has given him a lot over the past four years.

“It’s instilled this confidence that you can’t get from just taking a public speaking class, it’s created genuine friendships and it’s created this atmosphere where I feel comfortable with all of these guys and having so much fun,” he said.

Within his college years, Wells has collected memories he said he would never trade. Otto Tunes has performed for almost every organization on campus, toured in many different states, and even opened for the Rockettes in New York City.

Wells said being in an a cappella group is about the little things, but a few years ago they decided to do something bigger.

Otto Tunes decided they wanted to help the Testicular Cancer Foundation after they learned that testicular cancer is the most common cancer in men aged 18 to 34. And thus, Cockapella came to campus. Cockapella is a concert put on by some of the a cappella groups on campus in Hendricks Chapel.

In the past four years the shows have raised thousands of dollars toward the foundation, and Wells said Otto Tunes is excited to perform Oct. 15.

“Almost all of my college decisions so far have revolved around Otto Tunes, and the least I can do is give back, lead and create this atmosphere where other people feel the same thing,” Wells said.