A Profile on Jon Easterling

Many things that come naturally to you and me, things that we would never even think about, are a daily struggle for people with Aspergers Syndrome. For Jon Easterling this struggle has been with him his whole life. Whereas making friends and being organized come easily to most of us, these are some of the difficulties that people with Aspergers endure. Although it is extremely hard to push past all of the symptoms and hardships, he is working on conquering his adversities. He refuses to let Aspergers rule his life, though he accepts it as a part of who he is.
Jon Easterling was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia and is the youngest of four children: two brothers and a sister. He was born October 25, 1988 and went to Trinity Episcopal High School in Richmond VA. He is currently a freshman at Virginia Tech and is in university studies. Although he is only in university studies, he is considering a major in meteorology. Other than Virginia Tech, he applied to Marshall University, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Mary Washington University but decided on Virginia Tech when he was declined admission into Marshall Universities program for students with Aspergers Syndrome . After deferring two years after high school, Jon finally decided on coming to the great land of the Hokies, Virginia Tech.
Other than having Aspergers Jon is a like any normal freshman at Virginia Tech. Aside from doing school work he enjoys playing board games, going to the beach, listening to audio books and watching college football. His college football interest started when he began keeping up with the Virginia Tech football program. Although some see having Aspergers Syndrome as a disadvantage, others find positive outlooks. Because of this syndrome he has a harder time meeting new people and making friends, but his long term memory is astronomical. His fantastic long-term memory has helped him remember stats from every football game for the last ten to fifteen years. Not only is he very good at remembering stats, his sister claims his memory is so good that he could tell you what he had for lunch on his first day of first grade and that he knows every college mascot in the nation. His favorite audio book is Look Me in the Eye: My Life With Aspergers which he has listened to ten times. He simply says, " I learn better by listening to something rather than reading something."
He also greatly enjoys comedy, cooking, music, and anything to do with college football. Comedy is one of his greatest passions. His favorite comedic movie is Dumb and Dumber, and he also watches stand up comedy whenever he gets a chance. Another one of his many loves is music. His favorite time period of music is from the eighties. Some of his favorite bands include Bon Jovi, Scorpions, and Glass Tiger.
In school Jon loved to write poetry and solve math problems. He was particularly a wiz at math. His outstanding accomplishments in math earned him an induction into the Math Honor Society at his high school. His high school had an annual corny joke competition in which he entered every year. Since his freshman year until his senior year, he won the corny joke competition without fail. He received a wildly excited standing ovation when he captured the title for the forth consecutive year in a row. Jon also actively participated in his junior highs Chess Club which his love for continued to the high school level. Once in high school he founded and was named president of the German Club.
Some of Jon's other interests also include the stock market and politics. He is very passionate about politics and has strong views about each subject. He believes strongly in taking away taxes from everyone. And is also a strong believer of pro-life. Along with his many other views, he opposes partisanship and the public option. He does support civil unions for same sex couples and a co-op health care reform plan.
As you can see Jon Easterling is just another regular college student with the ambition to learn and know as much as possible. Even though he was born with a slight setback in one area, he was blessed with a boost in many other areas. Jon has not let his condition slow him down at any rate. His incredible memory sparks interest in many areas. His passion for comedy and politics are always great topics of interest for him. His high school experience was also a fantastic one having founded his own club and swept the corny jokes competition four years straight. Jon's ambitions and passions do not go unnoticed by his peers and family members. After having talked to Jon and learnt about his past, I have no doubt that people will find him very interesting to talk too. Jon Easterling is a great guy and anyone should be privileged to know him.