Ask anyone what makes Tech special and the answer will be the same. It’s the people who form our campus family.
For some, Tech is a tradition that has lasted for generations.
The Jared family has made Tech a tradition; four generations studied here and most buildings contain years of memories.
Caitlin Jared graduated in December with a degree in communication and political science. Her younger brothers, twins Daniel and Jonathan, are freshmen business students.
Their parents, Sherry and Britt, and uncle, Scott, graduated in the 1980s with degrees in management information systems, marketing and English/journalism, respectively.
Scott and Britt’s parents, Wanda and Ed, graduated in the 1950s. For 20 years, Wanda Jared taught English composition and literature to hundreds of Tech students, though she avoided teaching her own children.
Wanda’s father was the first of their family to graduate from Tech, and he went on to board WWII veterans in his Dixie Avenue home. Though Ed’s father attended for two quarters, he could not afford to finish and was too embarrassed to ask his father to co-sign a loan.
“It’s wonderful to see them follow in our footsteps,” Ed said. “We figured that if they were going to go to college, they would do it here because Wanda taught here and it was economical for us. We know it’s a good school.
“I feel confident about the academic work here because I’ve always felt that academics are the most important.”
Jonathan, Caitlin and Daniel are the latest generation of Jareds to come to Tech.
One of Tech’s newest alumni, Caitlin, is “really, really proud” to continue her family’s tradition. Both her younger twin brothers only applied to Tech and are studying business.
Caitlin majored in journalism and political science and is busy applying to law schools so she can become a family, environmental or civil rights and liberties attorney.
She decided she wanted to be a lawyer in a real-life “‘Legally Blonde’ moment” in a trial class in which she was the defense attorney and won the course’s murder case.
“Winning my first fake case was really awesome. That was the moment I knew that’s what I wanted to do with my life,” she said. “I want to protect people.”
Caitlin and her brothers grew up going to basketball and football games and having lunch on campus when Wanda was still teaching.
Twins Jonathan and Daniel, ‘18, were in the top 10 percent of their high school class and knew they would come to Tech. Daniel thought he wanted to go to medical school and so started as a pre-med major but switched to follow Jonathan in business.
“We get into a spat and then five minutes later it’s like, ‘Oh, hey man,’” Daniel said. “If he goes somewhere, I’m going with him.”
Though they are not identical, they say other students often confuse them for the other. As best friends, they find it funny and talk about getting an apartment together.
“In one day, three people came up to me thinking I was Daniel,” said Jonathan. “One guy shook my hand and everything.”
Though the three have different plans and goals, all say they feel at home at Tech and are proud to continue their family tradition.
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