At the young age of 19 Claflin University Student-Athlete, Jalen Thompson found himself in Gold Coast, Australia, studying abroad at Griffith University. Jalen a Houston, TX native, graduating from Dulles High School, has branded himself since entering Claflin University as the ultimate scholar-athlete, by being a member of the Alice Carson-Tisdale Honors College, (the elite of the elite) and is the starting second baseman and designated hitter for the Panthers' baseball team.
The sophomore, biology major and chemistry minor enrolled in four classes at Griffith University, for the fall semester of 2013. Jalen describes the experience as "new and very different. The class size was larger than I experienced at Claflin University, and I was responsible for my survival at school and in life. The school was structured quite differently as three hour classes met just once per week for two hours. A typical day at Griffith University would be getting up early and go off to class and sit through a two hour lecture, and off to another class, and another two hour lecture, then basically I was through for the day as far as class was concerned. I had to learn to structure my time to incorporate studying as well as cooking, and other activities."
The university international student said, "The course study was much more complex in Australia than in the US. The quizzes and tests we took over there made us retain more of the subject matter, because on the next quiz we had to refer to what we learned from the previous quiz and so on up to the final exam. What helped me out a lot were my class notes as well as online resources that were available to us."
"When I arrived in the Gold Coast my roommate and I only had a small television, kitchen table, with chairs and one small bed in each room. We literally had to decorate our room to make it our home away from home, and it was amazing how much we had accumulated in the past four and a half months, when it was time for us to leave."
When asked about missing baseball and staying in shape, Jalen quickly said, "I have been able to stay in shape by playing baseball for Griffith University. There are no sports teams in Australia per se but I was able to play with my University, on one of nine club teams in the area. During the break there was something called a sports festival which takes place every year in Australia. This year the festival happened to take place in Gold Coast, Australia with sports such as soccer, Australian Football, basketball, and baseball. I was chosen to represent Griffith University on the local college based team. We played a total of 16 games during that week and sometime played two or three games in a day. That experience was really awesome, because I played against some of the best talent the Australians had to offer. Being named to the All-tournament Team, I think I did pretty well."
Jalen has completed his course work and received his grades which were equivalent to an A+ in one course and A's in the other three courses. Jalen is a prime example of what Claflin University's motto is all about. Sending students to study abroad, to widen their horizons and enabling each of them to feel confident in competing in a global society, with great success. The world does need visionaries.
