Catching Up with Jacob Alexander

By Deborah J. Sergeant

Natalie and Collene (left to right, back row), and Lindsey Kregel, Jacob Alexander and Elizabeth Conrad enjoyed working on Team Mini to promote hockey games.

In the last issue of College Life, Jacob Alexander discussed his first completed year of college.

Now he begins his sophomore year at SUNY Oswego, majoring in technology education. He’s preparing to teach woodworking and run a furniture-making store after graduation.

A resident of Sterling, Alexander commutes to campus daily, but hasn’t found off-campus living as an impediment to making friends.

Though he attended a small high school, simply “being friendly and open” has helped him “meet lots of friends and new people and enjoy the college life,” he said. “It has flown by. It’s crazy thinking I have only three years left.”

Making so many new friends all at once felt much different from his high school experience, where he had known many classmates since elementary school. The academic rigors of college are also different.

“It’s more challenging in college,” Alexander said. “I thought high school was pretty easy. Now that I’m in college, it’s definitely more difficult courses.”

He anticipates the fall semester to challenge him further; however, he hopes that planning his schedule better should help him allot plenty of study time between classes.

Most of his courses will relate to his major and that should help him succeed since he feels comfortable with technology.

From left, Margaret (no last name given), Natalie Buck, Brooke, Lindsey Kregel, Jordan and Collene Waters. Jacob Alexander is shown in front of the group.

In addition to his classes, Alexander plans to learn about technology with his peers as part of Oswego Technology Student Association (OSTA), an organization he joined his first year.

“It’s been very fun,” he said. “I’m glad I joined it.”

He’s serving as vice-president for the 2017-2018 school year. OSTA takes an annual trip to TEECA East, the annual eastern regional conference of the Technology and Engineering Education Collegiate Association Virginia Beach, among other activities. Alexander looks forward to serving a group that discusses his main interests.

To paraphrase the idiom, “All studying and no play makes Jacob a dull boy” so Alexander makes time to have some fun, too. Last year, he participated in Team Mini, which clears the rink and drums up school spirit during hockey games. This year, he serves in an organizational role as president of the group.

“I thought this semester went well,” Alexander said. “I had a pretty good GPA. I think next year will have a lot in store for me.”