Oral history interview with Jeson Hall, 2017

Brittany H: My name is Brittany Hedrick, and today is Monday, August 14, 2017. I'm in the Jackson Library with Jeson Hall to conduct an oral history interview for the UNCG Institutional Memory Collection. Thank you, Mr. Hall, for participating in this project and sharing your experiences with me. I'd like to start the interview by asking you about your childhood. Could you tell me when and where you were born?

Jeson Hall: First off, thank you again for the opportunity. I was born in Orange, California, and I'm the oldest of two to my mother.

Brittany H: Okay. Could you tell me about your family and home life?

Jeson Hall: I was raised by my mother. She raised me and my younger brother, Lee. I was born in Orange, California, and then my mother traveled when I was less than a year old to Dallas, Texas, and my brother was born two years afterward. At 4 years old, we moved from Dallas, Texas to northwest Alabama, in the town of Florence, Alabama. I was raised in that area of [Wardo 00:01:08] County, Alabama from different cities in that county, probably until I was about 19 years old. At 18 or 19 years old, I made an enlistment decision and joined the Navy. In my home life, again I was raised by just my mother, but I had several stepdads growing up. I've been to several of the schools in the county, there in northwest Alabama, too many to count. My home life, me and my brother, we were rural. It was poor, but we adapted overcame. My mother had a high school graduation. She worked frequently either as a waitress, as a caregiver or as a gas station attendant. She put us through public school. We were raised in the Protestant religion, so we went to church often. I was baptized at 6 years old and was a Baptist growing up. I've been exposed to various other services, which influenced my life as a child. Any other detail questions?

Brittany H: You mentioned that you attended a lot of high schools?

Jeson Hall: A lot of schools growing up.

Brittany H: A lot of schools.

Jeson Hall: Thirteen to be exact if I wanted to count them all.

Brittany H: Okay. So if I asked you where you went to high school is there one place that really stands...

Jeson Hall: So I graduated from Lexington High School. I'd been going to that school for two years. My eleventh and twelfth grade year. Previously, I had went to Rogers High School, which was a rival team in terms of athletics and sports, and was the closest school to that area. I went to that school for a year and a half for half of my ninth grade year, and all my tenth grade year. I went to Central High School for half of my ninth grade year, as well, which was on the other end of the county, but still in the same county and school district. Lauderdale County School District to be specific.

Brittany H: What were your favorite subjects, and did you enjoy school?

Jeson Hall: I did. I enjoyed probably for the social interactions with others, and if I had to choose favorite subjects it would probably be art, mathematics, and it's a pull between history and science, probably a little bit towards science, but history is just as important. I'm carrying a history book with me today.

Brittany H: Is that Stephen Ambrose?

Jeson Hall: Yes, it is.

Brittany H: Yeah, okay. I have that one. All right, so when did you graduate from high school? What year was that?

Jeson Hall: I graduated June 1, 2000. I graduated about [the] middle of the way in my class.

Brittany H: So what did you do upon graduation? I know you were talking about enlisting, so can you elaborate a little more on that?

Jeson Hall: I was in a program called the Upward Bound Program, which was designed for students that were in high school whose parents were first-generation of going to college. I was enrolled in what we call a summer college program, and immediately after graduating high school, I was already in the Northwest-Shoals Community College as a student there and had already attended a previous semester there, so I followed it up with another semester. [I] took a psychology class, a math class, a computer information system class, and an English class, so it was a full load that the first summer after graduating high school. I had received a scholarship, a work-study scholarship to serve as a student athletic trainer at the University of North Alabama. I proceeded to two semesters of school at University of North Alabama, an education major. I was going for physical education with a specialization in athletic training, which was a program in its last year. I made it two semesters before I had enlisted in the U.S. Navy and then left in 2001, in May of 2001 for Great Lakes, Illinois where I had an opportunity to practice medicine with a very diverse culture and group of folks. Probably my first out of area experience away from my family, away from my friends, and away from my environment for the first time.

Brittany H: So what made you decide to want to join the U.S. Navy?

Jeson Hall: Well, I think it goes back to where I was when I was a kid. When I was a kid if you were to go, "What did you want to be when you grow up?" I was the type of kid that would push around my little car, and go, "I want to be an ambulance driver." I wanted to get people back and forth to the hospital as fast as possible. The U.S. Navy had a field practice called the Hospital Corpsman. I was already serving as a student athletic trainer at the University of North Alabama, and the work that was described to me from a recruiter in the U.S. Navy was the job of a Hospital Corpsman is like taking care of a football team in a college as a student athletic trainer except you're doing it for Marines and sailors, and you're doing it with about the same level of training as well as expertise. The recruiter was very wrong in that quote. You get a lot more training, and a lot more expertise, and you get to practice very fast without direct supervision of a doctor. When I joined the Navy, and saw the opportunities that presented myself to get to practice medicine, and get to help save lives. I was invested whole heartedly. That's what I wanted to do.

Brittany H: How long were you there? I guess, how long were you in the Navy?

Jeson Hall: I served 14 years and two months in the United States Navy, and I started out in Great Lakes to receive training, both as a sailor, and then later as a Hospital Corpsman. Then I left Great Lakes, and do you mind if I tell you everywhere I went?

Brittany H: Sure.

Jeson Hall: Okay. Then I left Great Lakes, and went to Camp Pendleton, California. While I was at Great Lakes, we had 9/11 happen. I joined in May, 2001, and I was halfway through my training as a Hospital Corpsman when I looked up on the television during a break, and saw a plane hit one of our Twin Towers. Less than two hours later, I remember an instructor looking at every one of us going, "Every one of you will be leaving for the Marines," and it was exciting, but it was also a little scary because we knew that that meant that we were going to be going on the front lines of combat sooner or later in some form or another, and none of us had a clue what that really meant, at least I didn't. I left for Camp Pendleton, and did a small residency as a pharmacy assistant. We call it PSI duty or temporary training, and then I went on to my school field medical service school, and became a Field Medical Service Technician. Then in late February or like March, I joined my first Marine Corp Unit, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines. They're known as the Magnificent Bastards. I joined up with 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines. I served with them from 2002 until 2005.

Jeson Hall: There were two deployments during that phase. The first one was 11 months long, and supported the 31st MEU, which was a Marine Expeditionary Unit out overseas and full deployed. That deployment lasted 11 months long. We were forward staged to respond to any threats that happened out in the Pacific Ocean. Well at that time, from 2002 to 2003, the United States was pushing into Afghanistan, and Iraq at the same time, so were held on station to be that remaining force should there be an eruptive crisis happen out in the Pacific. In 2003, I came home from that deployment after 11 months, and then went right into training to head into a combat deployment where we would be heading into Iraq. In February, 2004, we received orders to go to Ramadi, Iraq, which for the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, and for most of the Marines was the bloodiest battle, and the battle with the highest casualties at its time for Operation Iraqi Freedom. I lost 34 Marines and Corpsman in that deployment, which was probably what hits me the hardest today. Memories there, good and bad, will last with me forever.

Jeson Hall: After that second deployment, I received orders to go to Preventive Medicine Technician school from a recommendation from one of the commanding officers, who later became Operations Officer for that battalion. I did six months in that school and graduated well with that certification, and then went to Hawaii, and served three years in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii as a Preventive Medicine Technician, and a Food Health Inspector. After three years of serving in Hawaii, in Pearl Harbor, and supporting the Naval Health Clinic Hawaii there, and Marine forces specific, I moved to San Diego, California. I was assigned to my first ship, the U.S.S. Cleveland, out of San Diego, California, which was an LPD or an amphibious transport dock, Austin Class. I was there for three years until that ship decommissioned in September 2011.

Jeson Hall: In September 2011, when that ship decommissioned, I was given orders to report to the Commander of Naval Forces Europe, Commander of Naval Forces Africa, and Commander U.S. 6th Fleet Headquarters out of Naples, Italy. I spent two years, and two months in Naples, Italy serving as a Hospital Corpsman, Lead Preventive Medicine Technician, and before leaving the Leading Petty Officer for Force Medical Operations. In December 2003, I left Naples, Italy, and reported back to the Marine Corp to specifically the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines out of 29 Palms, California, and I completed my service there. We did one deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom from March 2015 to June 2015. I was discharged in July 2015. I may have the year wrong. I think it was 2014. So it was March 2014 to June 2014.

Jeson Hall: I was later separated from the service with an Honorable Discharge in 2015. So from 2001 to 2015, I was in the U.S. Navy, 14 years, two months is what it totals up to. I enlisted on May 21, 2001, and was discharged July 21, 2015.

Brittany H: Wow! Okay.

Jeson Hall: Sorry if that's very detailed, but that's where it is.

Brittany H: So what did you do after that?

Jeson Hall: So immediately after leaving the service in 2015, I came back home to visit family to see my mother, and to spend some time with her, and also kind of get resettled. I knew I wanted to continue my service to our country. I wasn't done by choice with that. I was honorably discharged, but it was a mutual decision, more so a decision made on behalf of the U.S. Navy. I had interviewed for, earlier in that year, a job for the Department of Veteran's Affairs as a Medical Support Assistant, and was appointed a position to work here at the Salisbury VA Medical Center in Salisbury, North Carolina. It was a job that was designed to be a program support assistant for a community residential care program called the Medical Foster Home Program. I've been doing that job since August 2015. I also came back and immediately got back toward my educational goals. I completed an Associate in Arts degree at Davidson County Community College in May of 2016 and was admitted in 2016 to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where I'm pursuing a degree in Social Work with the school social work concentration.

Jeson Hall: Again, social work is a helping professional where it helps marginalized populations, and people in all classes in diversity-based environments. My specific concentration is in school social work where I'm excited personally, and professionally because when I graduate in May of 2018 I'll have a licensure to practice at a bachelor level, which let's hope that it stays that way in North Carolina, but many professionals have to have a masters degree to accompany their licensure in order to practice. I look forward to it personally because I have a newborn son at home. He was born July 6 of this year, and he's about five going on six weeks old now, and I look forward to being in a professional that's involved in being the change agent for something that's going to directly affect my son's life. That's very exciting for me.

Brittany H: So you've had a very busy summer with a newborn?

Jeson Hall: I have. While I did not take any classes this summer, I did have a child this summer. I'm looking forward to the next few semesters of finishing up my degree, but also raising him. I know that by sticking out my goals and getting my education now. When he grows up and starts to develop memories, and the quality of life that he'll develop those memories around will be because I pushed myself to complete, and to achieve my educational goals now. That motivates me to finish.

Brittany H: Okay. I wanted to back up a little bit. There's one question I wanted to ask you, what's it like going from serving to being a civilian, and has that really been a challenge?

Jeson Hall: All right. So, going from serving in the U.S. military to being a civilian in the U.S. military, it came with a transition. There is a disciplined difference by and large for people that are not in the service to the way that people are in the service, it's a culture difference in the way that you associate yourself with your surroundings. Inside of the military, your entire surroundings become something that you bond with a lot closer, a lot tighter than you do in a community at first. I've learned in my year of transition into social work from just going to get my education after doing my service in the military, that you can bond with the community that way, it just starts out very different. There was something special about having a set mission that everybody is focused on being around, and that's what everybody's there for, and they're not just there 40 or 80 hours a week. They're there 24/7, and then when you come out to the world, everybody has a different mission, and the freedom to pursue that mission.

Jeson Hall: You can come on board with a group of people, and what their goals are, or you can have your own, and become a leader where they come to you or you can struggle going from place to place. I think once you figure out what it is that you want to associate your life with, and you find that out for yourself, and you're willing to take the courage to pursue that, it begins to get a little bit easier. If you're just someone that's waiting to be told what the mission is, and you're wanting to follow along for it because it's already established, then yes, it's a harder transition going from the military to the civilian life. Me, I knew I was in a helping profession wanting to take care of others. It's been a life goal my whole life. That's the thing, as in every life, whether you're in the service, or you're serving or whether you're in the civilian community, people need help, and that's why it was an easy transition for me. I hope that answers the question.

Brittany H: Yeah, it does. Thank you. Okay. So we've talked about your journey to UNCG. So why did you choose UNCG?

Jeson Hall: When I got to North Carolina, I put myself right smack in the center of North Carolina, so that therefore I could see all the way around me. For one, I had not lived in North Carolina before or during my time in the service, so I knew very little about the state other than that's a place where a lot of veterans were going. That was something I picked up on while I was active duty. [The] University of North Carolina at Greensboro is a very beautiful college. When I first stepped on board the campus and looked around, it was daunting to figure out how to get to because I didn't know the area very well. It was daunting to figure out how I was going to be able to fit and adapt to a population that grew immensely from one moment to the next, and I can remember the very first day that I stepped onboard the university, there had been a large crowd of people there. It was probably close to the beginning of the semester in 2014, no 2015 or 2016, and I had stepped on board before I became a student. I was intimidated by that, the amount of people there, so it was the first choice I came to.

Jeson Hall: I later explored, and looked at a few other colleges, Livingston College, which was a historical black college. UNC Charlotte. I had already been attending Davidson County Community College, which became a college I choose of convenience because it was convenient to the environment that I grew up in being from northwest Alabama. It seemed to be country ... the town, the college was in Lexington, North Carolina seemed to resonate with me because I had graduated from Lexington High School, and I was in a small town called Lexington. It just lined up to where I just felt like that was the place where I needed to be, and then it just never left my mind that NCGC was the place I could excel, and the more times I kept coming back here the easier it got to the point to where I dropped an application, and was accepted, and moved forward with that opportunity.

Brittany H: Okay. This is kind of similar to another question that I had asked earlier about civilian life, but what is it like being a non-traditional student, being a commuter, being a transfer student, like what is that like?

Jeson Hall: It's one that requires extensive organizational skills. What I mean by that is when I came out of the service, and dived into colleges in the non-traditional role being somebody that had kept a 14-year career with one organization, which was in of itself pretty admirable to do. It probably benefited me the most for being a non-traditional student because it taught me about cohesiveness and camaraderie, and it also challenged the developmental skills in an organization that already had obtained, and had grew [sic] with, and my previous profession. I'm a man that lives by a schedule. I'm able to adapt and be flexible because I can do that because I can put everything in a place on a timeline on a calendar. I can often find time to multi-task, and to do multiple things in a small period of time by managing that small period of time to maximum effectiveness. That was something that the military taught me how to do quite efficiently, and something that I felt that was a benefit to me in the college life as a non-traditional student, and then, of course, I could not have done it without great family supports, and great community supports, particularly the great supports that this country has for veterans, has allowed me to be able to excel and achieve more than I ever thought I would've when I was 19 years old in the traditional role as a college student.

Brittany H: So you did take advantage of the G.I. Bill, you were able to do that?

Jeson Hall: I did. In 2001, when you go into boot camp, on the first or second day that you're there, it's all a fog because you're awake for it all, for what feels like a week, but it's only like three days probably. One of the things that you do, is you're offered an opportunity to sign up for the Montgomery G.I. Bill, which advertised in 2001 was you pay a hundred dollars a month for 12 months, and we'll make sure that you've got money set aside for education whether it costs $1200 or more. There was [sic] probably more details involved with it. At the time, all I knew was it was an opportunity to save money before I received my paycheck so I was like, why not take advantage of it.

Jeson Hall: Smartest decision I would ever make because while I didn't understand it then, it grew to be an immense program that made several changes to where it's paid for itself eight times over in the 12 months or more I've taken so far, and I still have 24 months or less of that of benefit to continue using the program. There's very little that you get that much of a return investment in just for completing an enlistment. So I am in a program called The Post 9/11 G.I. Bill, which was adopted to the G.I. Bill sometime after I had initially applied, but what benefited those that served after 9/11 2001 to the point to where they had a chance to achieve a college dream that unlike those before 9/11, and those generations before probably were able to achieve at the cost growth rate the college was growing to. Between 2000 and 2015 particularly, college costs cost a lot more than what the G.I. Bill would typically afford, and the living standards cost a lot more than they did in generations before, as well.

Brittany H: Okay. I feel like this is another question that you've kind of already touched on, but if you'd like to elaborate that's okay, so how has your military experience impacted your experience here at UNCG?

Jeson Hall: Well, my military experience taught me to give where I felt my heart pulled me in that direction. Throughout my entire military life, I found myself, when it was time to work, it was time to give my best effort to saving lives, and helping others, and when it wasn't time to work to challenge myself to find what it was, the helping lives or helping others professionally I enjoyed it most, and that came through volunteer work. It came through working with organizations like nursing homes with community programs like the USO or the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Committees or being a sports official for intramural sports. I found myself in various different volunteer roles throughout my time in the service.

Jeson Hall: When I came here to UNCG and found out how much service learning, and how much involvement community engagement actually plays into the holistic student growth experience, it was something I was already well prepared for because my military life allowed me to explore ways that I wanted to continue caring for others, and be in a helping profession outside of the mission or the environment of being in the service allowed me to, so it allowed me to come in, excel very quickly, very efficiently, and use skills that are obtained while in the service in programs like working with Peace Saving Farms, accepting an opportunity to serve as the treasurer for the Veteran's Association. Being in the social work student association, and being able to complete service learning, and internship hours with organizations like United Way of Greater High Point with Purple Heart Homes, and with other organizations that I hope to in the year to come.

Jeson Hall: I'm pending starting an internship that starts on August 22nd with Hampton Elementary University Partnership Magnet, which is a public K through fifth grade school, and I'm looking forward to what 440 hours of volunteer internship that's going to do for me in the next year, in the next two semesters. I'm prepared for that because of my time in the service, and the amount of volunteer time that you give without wanting something back without expecting something. That's really where giving starts. You don't expect or want anything back. You let it find you, whatever it is, whether it's opening your heart, whether it's a new experience, whether it's meeting someone that'll be a life long-reaching friendship or relationship for the rest of your life. You never know what you're going to run into out there on the volunteer trail of sorts.

Brittany H: So you keep really busy.

Jeson Hall: I do and I wouldn't have it any other way. I would tell close family and friends, my fiance even, is that the most dangerous time for me in my life is the time when my mind is idle, and there's nothing to do or it's downtime. I always have to be busy, whether it's stuff that is helping me towards my goals or whether it's stuff that's exploring or seeking adventure in a new field or new arena. I have to stay very busy, keep my mind busy.

Brittany H: So you're involved in a lot of organizations and community work. Tell me about the Student Veterans Association, and you were Treasurer. Are you still a part of that Association?

Jeson Hall: I am still a member of the Student Veterans Association and hope that I will continue to be a member for a long time, but in the role as being a student in the Student Veterans Association, it will have started last year in May, and it will go through May of this next year coming up, so it would be May of 2016 to May of 2018. In October, they had held an election cycle, and I applied for the position of Treasurer for that cycle and was elected by the community of student veterans to serve the remainder of that Fall semester, and the following Spring, as their Association's Treasurer. Before I was that, I was the member that came to meetings that inquired about details, wanted to know what the purpose of an Association was besides just occupying student's time, and dead space because I wanted to see [the] impact that helped veterans. When the Student Veterans Association advertised itself as an advocate and a resource for veterans. I wanted to be two-fold, just like my job, and my profession of working for the Veteran's Administration, and working to better healthcare so that, therefore, someday healthcare would be what I wanted it to be because I invested in that personally, and professionally. I, therefore wanted the Student Veterans Association to receive the same thing.

Jeson Hall: I wanted to be able to give into it in a method or in a way that I felt I could give back, not only to me but to other veterans. It became a program where it looked for leadership. It looked for people to step up, and go, "I'll take the time to be a leader," and I applied myself to that opportunity when it struck. I knew that I had to be very specific with the time that I had at [inaudible 00:33:05], and it needed to be a job that I felt like I was trained and capable of doing. Being a treasurer for a social work major, for someone that's out there in a human services field is it two fields, so practice that match up very well. One deals with money, and finance, and books. The other deals with people, and passions, and ideas, and thoughts, and making things into goals in reality.

Jeson Hall: Now with my military organizational skills, and with my diverse volunteer skills, our volunteer experiences, I was able to be the perfect fit in between both of those roles to serve in that capacity. Got an opportunity in that Spring semester as treasurer to lead a community service program where I was just the site leader for a farm day. Also got to pick up a hammer in another event, and pull nails out, and put together a house for a Humanity Habitat house. Those are things that are outside the roles of treasurer, but inside the roles as a member achieving a goal of service in giving back to the community that made being a member of the Student Veterans Association a passion, and a pleasure to be a part of. I hope within the next year we have more opportunities to continue to do that.

Brittany H: So you are in the Sociology Department?

Jeson Hall: No, Social Work.

Brittany H: Okay.

Jeson Hall: Sorry.

Brittany H: Oh no. I was just clarifying.

Jeson Hall: Thank you.

Brittany H: And that has always been your major since you arrived here, that was the decision when you get here was to...

Jeson Hall: When I got to [The] University of North Carolina at Greensboro it was to pursue social work. It didn't know if it was to pursue social work in a healthcare setting or in another avenue. I think when I was told that I was going to be having a kid, and I started remembering what others said that were great qualities of mine, where they thought they would see me in five years, and match up with the career traits that I had. It's when I felt like the passion to take on the adventure going into school social work and to work in the school setting was the right fit. Previously, before coming to the university, I thought I saw myself as a high school teacher, so I was transitioning from that mindset of going, "Where do I fit at in the education section giving it back, but yet still using the skills that I had learned, and the experiences that I gained from being in the healthcare profession." I was struggling with that transition, and it took it in stepping stones, and so being in the social work field allows me to use my experiences to the best of their ability while being an agent for change in the time to come.

Brittany H: Are there any social and/or academic events that stand out in your mind, and that can be from any of the organizations that you're a part of or perhaps from your department or just on campus in general?

Jeson Hall: So things that stick out to me, one was is when I first became a veteran, and was a college student back here in North Carolina, one of the things that I wanted to expose myself to was the social aspect of being able to care for someone that's not coming from life in the same position that I'm in. So that meant, what types of lifestyles are out there that would if it came inside of office or inside of my therapy room, and I needed to work with that client or that person, would I be able to level the field or level the floor to be able to be in a helping position versus being in a judgmental position, and it made me open my eyes to equality, and to specifically marginalized populations. At first, I was exposing myself to lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender populations, and find out where I could stand on my own two feet at a heterosexual male in that environment growing up with the lifestyle, and the past experiences that I had gained, and the diverse culture change that I had went through being a member of the armed services in the time period of 2001 to 2015, which history would look back and go that was a time period of a huge cultural transformation, and someone's sexuality being a part of their identity, and in their profession, as well, and the struggles with that.

Jeson Hall: I know that those struggles that they present for active duty members would eventually present to veterans. If I was going to take on a career in the Veteran's Administration then I needed to be prepared to deal with those challenges of those that maybe left the service against their will, which like I did, but for reasons that were different nature because of their sexuality or because of their struggles with acceptance or with being able to transform into the civilian that they needed to be in order to succeed after service in the military. To do that, I put myself in the culture socially by attending a concert here or a Pride Event there just to expose myself around the conversations of the populations. Another program that I became interested in that the university was sponsoring or being a part of was a program called [Spartans 00:39:00] in Dialogue. Spartans in Dialogue was a program that taught us to open up our feelings to topics that were hard to discuss in an open forum.

Jeson Hall: You could talk about topics of racism, oppression, white supremacy or white privilege. You could talk about things like sexuality and gender. You could talk about things of political views, of social/cultural norms, athletic biases or all kinds of things, and be able to talk about those in a forum where you can construct a positive agent for change, but not with that as your... That wasn't what we came in for. We come in to be able to learn how to talk about things the world, and the media, and our environment was struggling with being able to have a conversation around, and be able to sit around a table much like we are in this interviewing room, you could sit about those things. You didn't feel pressured. You didn't feel labeled. You didn't feel bullied. You felt like your opinion was valued.

Jeson Hall: You felt like the floor was open to talk about anything, and you felt like the people that you were in the room with were people that cared about what was on your mind. I hoped to be able to use agents like exposure to events, like put myself out there in terms of going to things, like LGBT events or learn how to socially adapt to cultures that I'm not used to being around, and taking programs that I participate in like Spartans in Dialogue, and I learn how to be able to use those tools to continue to be that agent of change, and to continue to develop in the field of social work.

Brittany H: What about professors or fellow students who have made an impression on you while at UNCG.

Jeson Hall: I've got a few here. Dr. Daniel Rhodes has been a huge influence to me just because he comes into things with such a positive spirit and comes to things with a knowledge base that is so diverse, and so grounded in his experience, and in his professional pursuit in social work. Another influence of mine is probably someone that has either left or is leaving in the next year, actually two people, and that would be Dr. [Katherine 00:41:47] [Schmidts 00:41:47], which taught one of our social work classes, and then the other person's left my... It'll come back to me as soon as this interview is over. That's terrible.

Brittany H: It happens to all of us.

Jeson Hall: And he was a policy professor last year. Gosh. It's going to kill me that I've forgotten his name, but anyway, but the faculty as a whole leaves an impression on you because they care about what we're here for, and they're able to transition learning into something that everybody gets something out of. That goes with just every instructor that I've been in a classroom with at this campus, except for the online classes. I can't honestly say that every student gets the same experience with the online class, but I can tell you from sitting in a seat, and looking to the left, and to the right of me, and seeing what comes my way. Yeah, every person takes things differently, but they all have the same opportunity, and that opportunity, it's a blessing to have, and I'm thankful for it. Those instructors have proctored, facilitated those classrooms. There's been staff members. There's [sic] been directors that have left [an] influence on me. Somebody who carries a very positive mental attitude with everything that she's involved in, and she's involved in a lot in this community and this school is Dr. Cathy Hamilton. She's a lady that if I could grow up to be like her that would be a pretty amazing person to be like. There's a lot of inspiration around here. I'm sure there's other that I'll still meet in the time to come that'll be just as inspiring.

Brittany H: What do you think of our new Chancellor, Franklin Gilliam?

Jeson Hall: Chancellor Gilliam, he reminded me of the biggest, friendliest bear when I very first saw him on the university website in a picture. I was like, "That's a big cuddly bear." I'm sure if he heard this, he would be like, "What is that guy thinking," but as I got to see him, and his name inserted in things both good and bad, it started to give me a respect that being a CEO of a college can be just as difficult as it is being a commanding officer to a U.S. Navy Command, whether it be at sea, at shore. You have a whole bunch of young men and women who are discovering what it is that they want to do with their lives, and their futures and they're on the brink of that independence, and there's so much at stake with being able to set those lives on a path of success or a path of destruction. The little things that you do, the little things that I'm sure Chancellor Gilliam does by stepping out, and asking people what they're experiencing, and whether or not it's benefiting them towards their goals. Putting yourself on every piece of grass at different times of the day and night to see how this university breathes is a pretty daunting job, one that is necessary, and one that has to be done. I could not thank him for being the person doing it.

Jeson Hall: He's put his opinion, and his professional rebuttal out there to a lot of things that have happened on the campus. He's left an impact on students, faculty, and staff here. He continues to be a presence, and particularly an example is I watched a YouTube video of him riding around with three student veterans, and I guess it was just because it was exposure to me, and it's important to me to see how veterans are taken care. I got to watch him conversate candidly with the veterans to understand how they were adjusting as non-traditional students on board this campus, and in college life. They ride around in the golf cart, travel through the university, is just another example of that. You put your feet on every part of this campus. There's [sic] many different times. There's [sic] many different places possible. Technology is great that we get to use a golf cart, whereas, I'm sure a hundred years ago or 200 years ago, Dr. [McGyver 00:46:45], and Minerva herself were having to put their feet on every blade of grass, carrying books. Much the same way, though. They knew the culture because they put themselves in the space, and they had the effort, and the drive to be what we are to be tomorrow. I thank Chancellor Gilliam for setting a good example and shining a good light on this university in the community.

Brittany H: So what do you plan to do after you graduate?

Jeson Hall: For me, I plan to go into my Master's program. Work doesn't stop and learning never stops. In terms of... I plan to use this undergrad experience, and the licensure to get to practice school social work in the public school sector, and in public service. I would like to look at where in North Carolina, does nobody want to go, but the greatest need exist because that is the most challenging experience, and often times in my military career, and in my life as a whole, sometimes the most challenging experiences can be the most rewarding. I hope that I'm in a position where I can take advantage of that. I'm also in a place where I have to look at family security, and I'm raising a son that's growing up every day, and I'm pretty sure as soon as a graduate, the first person that I'll hoist up in the air is that young fellow because that's the person that I'm going to instill upon having the opportunities to do everything that I've had to do or had the opportunity to do, and that much more. I think one of the things I heard a parent say when I was a kid, probably my own parent was that, "I want more for you what I ever had." That's the model that I live by wanting for my son. I want more than I could've ever had.

Brittany H: What would've been some of your proudest accomplishments or contributions during your time here at UNCG?

Jeson Hall: I think the proudest accomplishment, and maybe the simplest one, the cheesiest one, is hearing the words thank you. I can remember hearing the words thank you from another student who was looking just to get out on Saturday to find something to do rather than just sit in his apartment or in his home playing video games, and getting out to serve alongside other veterans in the community, and having a good time. A fellow officer, which is another student, they'll say thank you with an opportunity to be able to alleviate some of the pressure of the main responsibilities that they have by taking on jobs that are outside my scope or my role, but certainly not outside of my capability, and helping where help is needed.

Jeson Hall: From a staff member here, whether it's the office assistant of a director's office here, that just needs five more files or five more paperwork pieces completed to the person that conducts payroll for every staff in the university, saying thank you for being polite or professional or remembering my name. Those little things. Then finally from a professor saying thank you for being able to volunteer to hand something out or to do something. The little things, those thank yous mean a lot, and I think, for me, being able to have the opportunity for the rest of my life to teach to someone else every moment they exist, how to remember to say please and thank you is going to be the greatest challenge and the greatest reward that I look forward to.

Brittany H: Okay. So how has attending UNCG impacted and affected your life, and what does UNCG mean to you?

Jeson Hall: How has it impacted and affected my life? I think the fact that it's challenged me to accept where I am, and to look beyond where I think I can go, and set a course, and achieve that is pretty amazing. The fact that this provided a platform or facilitated an opportunity for me to continue to get to do that in my transition from military life to civilian life is going to be a lasting impression on me. It's very infectious because now I expect that for every veteran or for every person that comes out of the service, and steps aboard the rest of the world to make a difference. I hate to say that if I can do it, they can do it, because I look at them, and I go, "Because I have done it, how can I help you do it? How can I help you to step out, and achieve greatness? Whatever that means for you," and that's why it's infectious to me.

Brittany H: Okay. Well, we're doing these interviews as part of the 125th anniversary of the university, which is an excellent opportunity for reflection, but it also helps us think about where we are heading in the future. So, what do you think the future is for UNCG, and where do you see UNCG going as an institution in the next 25 to 50 years?

Jeson Hall: For one, 125 years old doesn't look much better than that. UNCG is wearing it, so kudos to them for that. I think the next 25 to 50 years is being able to step out and be the front runner, and where we need to go as a community, and as a society, we have got to find a way to be the cutting edge in technology, the cutting edge in interaction, and to master what we know, and where we are. This is a university that started out as a women's college and has become a catalyst, and a leader in the North Carolina University System since then. I think where it needs to go is a place that every single person has a high regard, and high respect for because it's on the front of their mind, and it's in their hearts that they know that whatever comes out of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro is going to be great, and it's going to do great things.

Jeson Hall: I think that's what the university's goal needs to look forward to in the next 25 to 50 years is being able to put that in every person's mind that either has been to college or has watched college football or is known college from migrating in a great uncle, and that by continuing to look at all social-economic statuses, and to be able to find greatness in all fields, and all diversities, and be able to bring those people up, to give everyone an opportunity to be something more than what they had like we demand of ourselves, like I've developed in my life. It's something that UNCG can, and should feel challenged to accomplish in the next 25 to 50 years. I know it's a big step, right?

Brittany H: It's a big question.

Jeson Hall: It is. It deserves a big answer.

Brittany H: Well, I don't think I have any more formal questions for you. Did you have anything you'd like to add about your time here at UNCG or any other life experiences that maybe you forgot to mention, you didn't have a chance to mention?

Jeson Hall: I'm 35 years old, so UNCG's always going to have more than I can ever have in its 125 years. All I can say is to anyone that's listening to this and is learning, every opportunity you can, pick up a book. Try to take a minute of your time to understand what has happened so that, therefore, you can embrace the moment in the future where you get to leave your mark so that, therefore, the future ahead of you has an opportunity to learn of your experience, and when that opportunity comes for them that they can achieve greatness on their level. My experiences have allowed me to embrace the moments that have come, whether it's been on a liberty port in a country 20,000 miles away, and it's allowed me to be a person that inside of my own community is respected as being the nicest guy, and the guy that can get the most done because he cares the most about the people around him. I was chosen in the high school setting as a leader of a large group of people because I cared about every one of them, and I loved them to death. I was accepted by strangers 20,000 miles away because I loved them for who they are, and I loved the opportunity that I had to be in the present with them.

Jeson Hall: There's power in that, and if that can be embraced by the person listening or by anyone else, I encourage you, and challenge you to embrace it, and see where it takes you. It's taken me places I can never dream to talk about, and only hope one day I can write about. Interviews like this have allowed me to talk about places that I've been to like Korea, like Japan, Guam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Italy, London. I'm 200 and some pounds, and I ran the [Tuffner 00:57:30] with 13 people, something that I was told I'd never be able to accomplish, 11 or 12 miles, 25 obstacles. All of them could've thrown me back. I tried to do it myself, but being able to do it with others, I may achieve the same results that they did, which was coming across over the finish line in a foreign country that I never would've imagined going, and doing it in, in the beautiful country of England. It was a goal of mine to play goal in all 50 sstates and to see all seven continents, and at 35 years old, if I live to the average expectancy of a man, make it to 70, I've met my mark halfway, and six years to the next half. Thanks.

Brittany H: Okay. Well, thank you so much. That was wonderful. It was good to hear your story.

Jeson Hall: Great. Thank you for letting me tell it.

Brittany H: All right. I'll go ahead and hit stop.

This transcript was exported on Nov 01, 2019 - view latest version here.

OH0002_HallJeson (Completed 05/09/19)

Transcript by Rev.com Page 1 of 1