Jordan Carey reaps the benefits from hard work, dedication

“Without hard work, nothing grows but weeds”

-Gordon B. Hinckly.

The truth of this quote rings out when it comes to Hazelwood Central High school senior Jordan Carey, who has put nothing but hard work into his education and has seen the benefits. Because he kept up with the demands of school, Carey will be attending Yale University in the 2017-18 school year.

When it came to finding out he got accepted, Carey had an experience that was unlike many.

“I went [to Yale] for a visit to watch the football game and they gave me the ‘likely’ letter which means you’re likely to be admitted, and that was pretty cool because they got to hand it to me in person. And I was like ‘This is really real,’” said Carey.

Yale is located in New Haven, Connecticut, which is nowhere near Jordan’s family. But he believes he’s ready for it and has a lot to look forward to.

“My mom, she travels out every week and it’s just me and my dad. And my dad’s at work ‘till about six, so I’m pretty used to being on my own now. [I’m looking forward to] playing in the Harvard-Yale game. Just seeing it on TV, and Yale won this year, and seeing everyone go crazy at the end was pretty cool,” said Carey.

Carey is not only an honor roll student, but a middle linebacker for the Central Hawks football team. Keeping up with school and sports would give any student a complicated schedule that would be difficult to keep up with, but Carey seems to easily handle it.

“When I get home from practice, I just take a shower and knock out my homework before I do anything else,” said Carey.

The routine surely has worked for him since he is an above average student and a great football player according to one of his coaches. So good in fact, that Carey will not only be attending Yale, but will do so on a football scholarship.

“He just has a natural talent and he has that work ethic that put him ahead. He’s put forth the effort and that’s why he’s going to Yale on that scholarship,” said Mr. Chojnacki, one of Central’s health teachers and football coaches.

Many students and staff around Central High school know of Carey and his achievements, and are proud of the way he has taken advantage of his education.

“I believe that you are going to get out of your education what you put into it, and it’s nice to see someone who has so much potential, taking advantage of it,” said Ms. Allen, Carey’s Calculus teacher.

Not only is he well prepared to go to Yale, Carey also has a major in mind and what he wants to do with it once he’s graduated from the Ivy-League school.

“I was thinking about studying computer science and getting into the video game industry and video game design or something like that,” said Carey.

While Carey is set on going to Yale, he still received offers from plenty of other schools.

“I had four Ivy-League offers. Harvard, Yale, Pennsylvania, and Columbia. Then I had an offer from Southeast Missouri, Southern Illinois University, South Dakota State, Colgate, and Georgetown,” Carey explained.

Carey dedicates how far he’s come to is parents, and says that anyone can do what he has done.

“I feel like you can accomplish anything really, if you just stick your mind to it and focus on your grades. And just make sure you put yourself in the best position possible,” he said.