Category: Mon Valley Miscellany || By

A Westmoreland County high school senior yesterday made his college selection official.

Terrelle Jones, 17, of Rostraver Township will be attending California University of Pennsylvania.

The announcement was made to his mother, younger brother and grandmother in the kitchen of the family's home in Collinsburg.

No representatives of the media attended. The news was not reported on ESPN, Fox Sports or local TV.

Afterward, there was no reception for crowds of people. Instead, the family celebrated with dinner at Eat'n Park.

Jones, a standout on Belle Vernon Area High School's debate team and a photographer on the yearbook staff, was not heavily recruited by any colleges or universities. Some family and friends believed he was leaning toward trade school or the Marines, but Jones said he always intended to go to college.

However, he admitted that he wasn't sure how the family would pay for it.

Tuition at Cal U. is only $2,600 per semester, but with books, fees, meals and commuting expenses, experts estimate the total cost to the Jones family will top $30,000.

"The loans that Terrelle has to take out are pretty scary," his mother, Tamara, said. "I'm glad he's going to Cal U., because he can live at home, and use my car."

"I played some field hockey, but I'm not really too good at sports, because of my asthma," Jones said. "So I didn't qualify for any athletic scholarships. And I guess my grades could have been better junior year, but I got my driver's license and a girlfriend, you know, so I kind of slacked off."

No famous ex-debaters or former yearbook photographers were available to advise Jones that his junior year slump would hurt his chances to land an academic scholarship in the Big 10.

Jones wants to major in computer science at Cal U. Upon graduation, his state university degree is unlikely to attract high-priced contract offers from recruiters for computing giants like Google.

Although Jones hoped to study computer programming at MIT or Carnegie Mellon, the family found the cost was out of reach.

Tamara Jones works as a nurse at Mon Valley Hospital, while Jones' grandmother is a billing clerk for a local tool and die company. His father is deceased.

Terrelle Jones will have to continue working part-time at a fast food restaurant on Route 51 to pay for gasoline, clothes and other necessities.

His mother admits she worries about him. "Terrelle works until midnight, 1 a.m., then he comes home, sleeps for a couple of hours and goes to school," Tamara Jones says. "He's out there in the car in the middle of the night. I can't fall asleep until I hear him come home. Sometimes, I get scared and cry."

Her son smiles sheepishly when he hears her complaints. "I know she loves me," he said. "She's my mom. But I told her, I got to work."

Despite the challenges that Jones faces, he considers himself lucky to get the chance to attend college.

"My mom always says you have to keep things in perspective," Jones said. "She says people get all worked up over dumb stuff, like sports, and they lose sight of the every day stuff."

Still, said Jones with a little grin, "Sometimes I wish I could have played football."

Editor's Note: The preceding was satire, and all of the people and quotes are fictitious, but any resemblance to any real Mon Valley families was purely intentional.