Dandridge: Prepared and Ready for the Real World

Jareth Dandridge, a Bluefield College senior, has been a BC student for his entire collegiate career. Dandridge has been studying graphic communication, a degree he said has set him up for future success.

Dandridge is a native of Martinsville, Virginia, where he grew up playing basketball and football, which were his true passions before coming to Bluefield. Originally, he came to Bluefield College on a scholarship to play football. After his freshman year, he realized football was taking away too much of his time to do school work. So he decided to play basketball his sophomore and junior year, which allowed him to enjoy a sport while still being academically successful. This year, he’s given up basketball to fully devote himself to his studies.

“I loved playing basketball,” Dandridge said, “but this year I decided to focus on school and graduating in the spring.”

Dandridge said the decision to give up sports was one of the most difficult he’s ever made, but that he knew his time as an athlete was coming to a close.

“I already felt like my sports journey was ending,” he said. “I started to lose confidence in myself, especially because I did not make the varsity squad.”

It is not an easy realization as an athlete to know when the end has come. Dandridge said he struggled with the idea of not playing a sport anymore as all former athletes do. With that struggle sometimes comes regret, but he said he knows “it is all part of a plan. God knows what He is doing in my life, and I trust Him completely.”

That attitude is what has helped him push past his regret and helped prepare him for the real world.

“Not playing a sport made me realize that I need to refocus,” Dandridge said. “I want to be successful and make money.”

As a graphic design major, Dandridge said he believes that Bluefield College has genuinely prepared him for his career. Allen Roberts, assistant professor and chair of the Graphic Design Department, has been a big influence in Dandridge’s decision to choose his major. Without Roberts, Dandridge said he would not know if graphic design would still be what he wanted to pursue.

Now sure that graphic design is his passion and his future, Dandridge said he loves to draw because it allows him to express himself in different ways. Drawing he said also led him to the practice of creating logos. In fact, he said he wants to focus on print packaging, which is creating logos for companies on boxes that are being shipped. For example, he would be creating the Amazon Smile logo on the side of the box. Who knows, Dandridge may some day make a logo that could be as marketable and memorable as the Amazon Smile.