The name is Jamal Stone. I'm a young black man living in the city of Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and I have an urgent story to share with all of you. It's the tale of my most glorious conquest. One so great that I absolutely must share it with the world. But please don't assume I'm just another young black guy on the make. I'm a student-athlete at the Great Barrington Institute of Technology in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Students affectionately refer to it as Barrington Tech.
Since moving to Great Barrington, I've had to adjust to all kinds of changes. I'm a Southern boy, so I found Massachusetts to be quite cold, in more ways than one. The town of Barrington was so different from my native Atlanta. There are only about ten thousand people in town, as of the latest census. The town is ridiculously small, and everybody knows everybody. Most of the school's six thousand students hail from nearby towns and cities. I was one of a few out of state students and one of three hundred ethnic minority students on campus.
Great Barrington Institute of Technology was a small school with a reputation for academic excellence. Recently, they had become somewhat of a phenomenon in New England area intercollegiate athletics. The Great Barrington Tech sports teams, collectively known as the Silver Wolves, had won numerous awards in Men's Baseball, Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball, Women's Softball and Men's and Women's Cross Country. This came as a result of a serious boost which the Athletic Department received at the turn of the century. Currently, Great Barrington Tech sponsors Men's Varsity Baseball, Basketball, Rugby, Gymnastics, Cross Country, Rifle, Swimming, Soccer, Ice Hockey, Football, Lacrosse, Golf, Tennis and Wrestling along with Women's Varsity Softball, Basketball, Cross Country, Swimming, Soccer, Ice Hockey, Rugby, Gymnastics, Lacrosse, Golf, Wrestling, Equestrian, Tennis and Field Hockey. We compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division Two.
I moved into the Great Barrington Tech campus in 2007, after graduating from the Georgia Military Academy, an elite all-male private boarding school. I had a lot of fun at the Georgia Military Academy. My previous school had four hundred students and I was one of only seventy eight black pupils. That didn't bother me in the least because I turned the Georgia Military Academy into my own little kingdom. I played varsity football and I was also a wrestler. I became the quarterback of the varsity football team and the captain of the wrestling squad. My senior year, I made Most Valuable Player on the Football team after leading them to the State Championships. I also remained undefeated in the 235-pound weight class during my final season on the wrestling team, taking first place at state as well.
After graduation, I had my pick of schools. I could have gone to Georgia Tech, like close to eighty percent of my classmates did. Or I could have gone to Georgia State University or even other powerhouses such as Boston College, Ohio State University or Pennsylvania State University. However, I didn't feel like going to any of these schools. I accepted a full scholarship from a relatively unknown small private school in the middle of nowhere, Massachusetts. And I've never looked back. Isn't that something? I didn't want to go to a big school where I might get lose in a sea of a thousand faces. Instead, I wanted to attend a small school where I could become king. Sort of like a big fish in a little pond or something.
As a six-foot-four, 235-pound athlete with a rocket for an arm and the speed of a cheetah, I was quite a presence on the gridiron. I became the quarterback of the Great Barrington Tech Football team. I wasn't the starting quarterback, since I was only a freshman during the 2007-2008 Football season. I did get some playing time and showed how quick I could run and throw when I scored a touchdown against Stonehill College, our biggest rival in the New England area Division Two College Football world. Yeah, that was one of our greatest victories. Great Barrington Tech only had a Football team for the past ten years and Stonehill College had proven to be a thorn on our sides. Yeah, life was good. I was doing good in all my classes. There's a stereotype about athletes being dumb. It's just that, a stereotype. You've got to maintain your grades if you want to play college sports. The rules apply to everyone. No exceptions.
Many dream of playing college football and attending an awesome school, and there are those who envy me. However, my life was far from perfect. Unlike many stars of the college football world, I wanted to earn myself a place in the competitive world of big business. If I made it into the National Football League, it would be okay but if I didn't, I wanted to have a stellar career in corporate America. Yes, a number of black male college athletes want to go professional in something other than sports. It happens, believe it or not.