Painting a Bright Future
Jared Thompson, 21, is a junior Communication major at East Carolina University with a concentration in Public Relations and a minor in Art Design. When I asked Jared what made him choose his major and minor, he replied smiling, “It had the least amount of math and I enjoy doing art.”
Jared lives in Greensboro, N.C., when he is not in Greenville. But that has not always been the case.
Jared was born in Tennessee and from there moved to Kansas, Texas, Ohio, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and finally to North Carolina. Jared first started moving because his mother and father split up when he was a child. After Jared’s mother met his stepfather, the new family began moving to pursue his stepfather’s job.
In his free time Jared enjoys working out, art, playing sports, and building things. Jared also enjoys scuba diving and recently finished taking the Master and Rescue Diver class. When Jared was in high school, he played football for Ragsdale High’s Flying Tigers located in Greensboro, N.C.
Jared has two pets, a salt water fish tank and a lizard named Rambo. Along with pets, Jared has three other roommates.
Jared is a member of the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE).
He is currently employed as a field coordinator for the company Smokeless Tobacco. Depending on Jared’s amount of homework, he typically works 10 hours a week. On top of working, Jared has a dealership license to sell cars. This summer Jared is going to Arizona for a Printing Press internship.
When Jared arrived here at ECU, he was a cheerleader for a week before tearing all the ligaments in his thumbs. Jared had to undergo surgery by removing ligaments from his wrist to put in his thumb. When I asked Jared if anybody picked on him or questioned his “gender role” when he became a cheerleader, he said that he hoped most people would be open minded about things like that, but nobody said anything to him about taking a nontraditional role.
Jared has one brother and one sister. Jared’s brother, 25, is a musician and is going to school for Musical Engineering. His sister is 15 years old and is graduating from high school this semester. “She is going to graduate college before I do,” he said jokingly.
Jared’s mother is a college professor in the department of Human Resources at Guilford Technical Community College located in High Point, N.C. His stepfather is a sales representative for the chemical company Bayer. His stepfather goes to the Bayer headquarters in Pittsburgh Pa., once a month and does a lot of traveling.
When I spoke on the phone with Jared’s grandmother, Mrs. Ann Dunne, she had nothing but positive things to say about her grandson. I began to see the affection that she had for him when one of the first things that she said about him was that he is a “darling boy.” She also said that Jared is very loveable to her and still calls while he has been at East Carolina.
Mrs. Dunne told me that Jared likes to tease, have fun, is health conscious, optimistic, personable, outgoing, and has a lot of friends. She laughingly said, “We call him party boy.”
Mrs. Dunne began telling me how great a sense of humor Jared has. She said that his sense of humor was a lot like his grandfather’s, even though it sometimes got him in trouble at such a young age. “Jared would say racy things to try to mimic his grandfather’s sense of humor. He was just way too young to be saying those things!” said Mrs. Dunne. An example that Mrs. Dunne gave me was the time that Jared commented on how big a certain woman’s boobs were.
The more that I talked to Jared’s grandmother, the more I began to see sides of Jared that he didn’t tell me about. Mrs. Dunne told me that Jared has a lot of wisdom and is sensitive to others feelings, which is unusual for someone his age. Mrs. Dunne told me that recently Jared’s brother was out of work and needed somewhere to stay. She said that Jared’s room in his parent’s house is in the basement; because Jared’s brother needed to move back in, Jared gave his brother his room.
She also said that he has a lot of integrity and doesn’t hold grudges. Mrs. Dunne told me that Jared has a lot of integrity because he is always honest no matter what. He always tells the truth.
When I asked Mrs. Dunne what she meant by Jared not holding grudges she replied, “He once found out that a girl lied to him about something and was hurt for a moment, but then quickly forgave her. Now, if a girl cheats on him, that is a different story. He is probably not going to forgive her then.”
Mrs. Dunne told me that Jared is very close to his mother. Jared’s mother is a good dancer and taught Jared how to do the Jitter Bug. Mrs. Dunne said that one time Jared accidentally dropped his mother on her head while Jitter Bugging with her. She was fine though.
Mrs. Dunne then began telling me how good of a charmer Jared is. He could “talk his way out of a paper bag,” said Mrs. Dunne. She told me of the time that Jared went to her gated housing complex late at night in a taxi. Mrs. Dunne said that somehow Jared talked the pople into letting him through the gate. “I don’t think that has ever been done before,” laughed Mrs. Dunne.
Austin Averett, a friend of Jared, said that she first met him in the sixth grade, and they went to middle school together. She and Jared’s parents are good friends, and their families have taken many trips together. Jared is different from anyone else said Austin, and that he is hilarious, blunt and not afraid to do anything. Sometimes he will say anything outlandish to make others laugh. When I asked Austin what is the difference between what Jared is like now and when he was in middle school she said, “I wouldn’t say more mature, just grown into his humor.”
“He’s a character,” said Jared’s roommate, Andrew Fry. Jared and Andrew went to the same high school (Ragsdale in Greensboro, N.C.), but didn’t know one another then. They met at North Campus Crossing, an apartment complex in Greenville. Andrew and Jared are business associates in selling cars, and they hang out a lot in their free time.
Andrew described Jared as artistic in everything that he does, charismatic, and a clean roomate. “Other than making fun of him, I can’t really think of anything else to say,” said Andrew.
Matt Robitaille, one of Jared’s fraternity brothers, said that Jared is one of the nicest guys at ECU. Matt said that Jared is kind of shy, has a big heart, and is humble. Matt told me that Jared always does the right thing and for the right reasons.
After Matt described to me Jared’s sweet side, he gave me a sneak peek at Jared’s party side. Matt said that Jared likes to party hard and have a good time. He told me of the night that Jared was pledged into the fraternity SAE and how incredibly drunken Jared got. “We even had to ask him to leave,” laughed Matt, “but no matter what, we always have fun when we are together.
One thing that I quickly found out from Jared’s family and friends that they could all agree on was that he was a good guy, health conscious, and outgoing. When I asked them why they thought Jared was a good guy, they all said that he really cares about their feelings. They knew that they could count on Jared if something was wrong in their lives. They all felt that Jared has this sense of knowing when something is wrong, and not everyone has that. Not only does Jared have this sense, he cares enough to actually do something about it, such as consolidating them.
Filed under: Classmate Profiles, Spring 2008