Jack Mariani: We Share a Very Small Room
At first glance you see pledge. Brooks Brothers sport jacket, J. Crew khakis, Bass shoes. Stereotypical. Behind the confident smile and Bean Boots hides a great guy. When he’s not in the room on the phone with his family he’s at Thompson library studying chem.
Maximus Honor student. In high school he was the captain of his lacrosse team and was named an Under Armour academic All-american. Jack lives in the library. As an exercise science major, he has to take a heavy course load including biology chemistry and psychology. He managed to accomplish a 3.3 GPA. Some would consider this to be slightly above average. Given his course load and the time commitment it took to write out prelabs for two classes while taking fifteen credit hours, a 3.3 GPA was an accomplishment. Jack takes his academics very seriously.
Coming from Long Island, I didn’t know many people at Ohio State. I really only knew Jack because I visited him before coming to Ohio State. Coming from Cincinnati, Jack had a good amount of friends. I remember being homesick and talking on the phone with my friends from back home. Jack forced me to come to lunch with him and his friends. Jack changed my whole aspect on college. The kids he introduced me to have become my best friends. It’s simple gestures like the one previously mentioned that separates Jack from being a stereotypical pledge of a fraternity. He actually cares for others. Every night when he gets home from the library he spends at least an hour showing me new music or laughing at funny tweets.
A week before finals week I got a pretty bad case of the flu. Jack came with me and sat next to me at the after hours emergency clinic. The next day I was stuck in bed and Jack went to CVS. Two cases of Gatorade, four cans of chicken noodle soup, and advil, lots of advil. Jack has become one of my best friends at Ohio State and he is one of the best guys I know.