By BEN KLEINE

Staff writer

Jacob Jirak has always had different interests than his former Centre High School classmates.

Northern Marion County has not been known as a haven for aspiring poets, but poetry is Jirak’s favorite artistic medium. His CHS English teacher Jennifer Montgommery said his poetry compares to that of E.E. Cummings. Jirak would like to evolve this craft at Columbia University this fall.

He believes the creative writing students at the Ivy League school will push him in new creative and experimental directions with his writing.

“It’s the fourth best school in the country,” Jirak said. “I know the kids are good.”

Jirak is trying to relax this summer, prepping himself before heading to an enormous city where he knows no one; he does not even know who his roommate will be.

“Where I was raised, I knew everyone from birth,” Jirak said. “But, people are people everywhere.”

Jirak estimates that most of his former classmates at Centre will continue their education with a focus on agriculture.

Jirak is working for his uncle, Ron Jirak, at his produce business this summer, as he has since he was 10 years old. He has also worked sporadically on family farming operations in Ramona, although not always with enthusiasm.

“It was something I knew I did not want to do,” Jirak said of farming.

Jirak is looking forward to pushing himself academically and interacting with students who share his intellectual and philosophical interests.

“I’m interested in sharing other people’s view points,” Jirak said. “The unexamined life is not worth living.”

However, Jirak also views the new students at Columbia as competition. While he has not adopted a love of the land, Jirak has embraced the work ethic common in Marion County.

“My upbringing taught me I can work harder than anyone on campus,” Jirak said. “I think, if someone is naturally inclined to do better than me, I’ll do well to match them. I always picture myself throwing myself against brick wall. I picture myself against the highest level of competition.”

While he is wary of having to work that hard on a daily basis, Jirak already toppled one brick wall to gain admission to Columbia.

Jirak decided Columbia was his school before his senior year at Centre. He had looked at Notre Dame with the potential of focusing on pre-law; he looked at the University of Southern California for a business track. However, no school he was considering offered as diverse a student body and a focus on creativity as Columbia.

With Columbia firmly in his cross hairs, Jirak studied 16 hours a day preparing for the SAT II test last fall. He would spend hours before and after school studying in the CHS conference room. On weekdays last fall, Jirak would average four to five hours of sleep a night.

The hard work paid dividends. Jirak scored a perfect score on the literature test. When he visited Columbia, his admissions officer said the score is a rare accomplishment.

“The test scores are the key that unlocks the door,” Jirak said.

However, he said his exemplary test scores meant nothing if his application was subpar. Jirak said he spent a total of 16 hours crafting his application including three essays.

One essay was 200 characters, an elaborate tweet in Jirak’s description, that came easily.

He wrote his first long-form essay about a catholic retreat he ran the previous summer. His Columbia-specific essay was about how his interests differed from his upbringing and how he was looking to grow as a person at Columbia.

After unlocking the door, Jirak opened it wide with his essays. His admissions officer at Columbia praised his writing when he visited. Jirak did not even need to interview to gain admission.

“The Ivy’s don’t look at a resume like a job,” Jirak said. “They’re looking for, overall, who you are. Everyone who applies there has a 34 or has won a national competition; they look for the people that want to accomplish more.”

Despite passing his first test by gaining admission, Jirak knows he will be part of a significant minority at Columbia — a student from a small town.

Jirak’s dilemma of trying to explain where he is from is an example of potential struggles in the future. Jirak was telling other students, when he visited the Manhattan campus, that he went to a high school with a total enrollment of 60 students, and that school was located in the middle of a field.

“They thought I was from a private school,” Jirak said.

When he explained that his school was public, the comment barely registered with the other students; it was unfathomable that such places even existed.

Jirak will use any disadvantage, whether perceived or real, as motivation. If necessary he will study 16 hours a day, to succeed at Columbia.

“I’m looking forward to the challenge,” he said.