H-ton Alum Jon Wood Makes Music
at Lehigh
Jonathan Wood is making beautiful music at Lehigh University. The Huntington High School Class of 2013 member has surprised even himself by being so immersed in the college music scene, but he’s happy with the way things have turned out so far.
“My freshman year of college was amazing,” Mr. Wood said. “I’m so fortunate that Lehigh was such a great fit for me. I got along well with my hall mates and roommate, but I found myself spending most of my time with the friends I made in the marching band. Even though I didn’t initially intend for it to happen, most of my friends here at Lehigh, much like back in the high school, are involved with music.”
The Marching 97, as Lehigh’s marching band is known, is led nearly exclusively by the student-musicians themselves. “There is only one faculty member, Al Neumeyer who makes sure we don’t do anything too stupid, but other than him, it is up to the band members to run rehearsals, plan our home and away halftime shows and manage the other areas of the band, such as finances, attendance, instrument/uniform procurement, etc.,” Mr. Wood said.
The Huntington alum has enlarged his social circle through Marching 97. “Our band camp lasted for three days before freshman orientation and it was a great way for me to become friends with 96 other people, Mr. Wood said. “It really made college feel smaller knowing that I had friends who ranged from freshmen to alumni that I could hang out with back at campus while many of the other freshmen knew no one. The marching band has been an extremely defining part of my college experience so far, and I have learned and been through a lot with my band mates. I am currently living in a triple with two guys from the band in a house that is half band kids.”
MC at 2013 commencement
The master of ceremonies at Huntington High School’s 2013 commencement exercises, Mr. Wood credited his success to his parents’ encouragement, his stubbornness and his fear of failure. His long association with the Boy Scouts culminated when he attained the rank of Eagle Scout. He was drum major of the Blue Devil marching band and was an active participant in Huntington’s extracurricular activities program.
An Advanced Placement Scholar with Distinction, Mr. Wood was Huntington’s 2013 recipient of the Suffolk County Executive’s Award for Public Service. The award honors one student from the graduating class of every county high school “who has made outstanding contributions to their community and whose accomplishments can be viewed as models of public service within and outside the school environment.”
A member of the National Spanish Honor Society, Mr. Wood volunteered to assist the organization with a variety of its activities and fundraising initiatives. He was also inducted into Huntington’s chapter of the National Honor Society and the Tri-M music, English, science and math national honor societies.
College classes are tougher
The depth of Mr. Wood’s involvement in the college music scene has come as somewhat of a surprise, even to him. “I never intended to be so into music in college, but I found myself being roped into many ensembles freshman year,” he said. “I was a part of the wind ensemble, jazz orchestra, a brass chamber group, the marching band, symphonic band and I took private lessons. This year, I am cutting down and only doing wind, jazz, the marching band and taking lessons. My classes are already tougher than they were last year and I need more time to study and do work for them.”
A history major, Mr. Wood has been busy academically. Last year he took American History to 1865 and American History 1865-1942. He also completed two environmental science courses and decided to carry a minor in that discipline. “I saw how dismal the job market is for history teachers, which is what I originally wanted to do, so I took an EES class and got absorbed into it. I also took an international relations seminar, a Spanish class, a statistics course and an English class for my creative writing minor. My friends have nicknamed me ‘Mr. Arts and Sciences’ because my interests are so diverse in the College of Arts and Sciences. My friend group is predominantly engineering and business majors, so sometimes I feel like I am alone among all of the other technological and mathematical students. Regardless, I am sticking with my major and two minors for now. I am thinking about still going into a job where I can teach, but maybe in a national park or similar area after college.”
Psyched about sophomore year
With a year of college under his belt, the Huntington alum is brimming with confidence. “I am psyched about sophomore year,” Mr. Wood said. “I am much more comfortable with the campus and all of my general education classes are out of the way. I am taking two history courses, an environmental science course and a creative writing course, so I am involved in everything that I find interesting. I’ve been able to narrow down the groups that I want to put my time towards and it feels like such an accomplishment to be on track and taking classes to satisfy my degree requirements. For last year, I believe I attained a 3.56 overall GPA and I plan on doing as well or better this year!”
Mr. Wood worked with Lehigh Catering last spring and ended up meeting “many kind members of the Bethlehem community,” he said. “During winter break, I traveled to Burlington, North Carolina with a contingent of Lehigh students to do work with Habitat for Humanity. We stayed in a guest house at an elderly living facility for a week and helped team members put up drywall, paint and roof three different houses. I totally regret not doing more with Habitat at the Huntington High School. After seeing how amazing it was last year, I am excited to go on many more builds over my time here at school.”
Rushed national band fraternity
The Huntington grad rushed the Kappa Kappa Psi national band fraternity last spring and is now participating in service projects and other community events. “It is a co-ed fraternity and most of my ‘brothers’ are conveniently in the marching band with me,” Mr. Wood said. “I like that Kappa is not a social fraternity, so we don’t host parties or have a house. Our specific chapter even has a strict no-alcohol policy at fraternity events, which pleased my parents very much!”
Mr. Wood is impressed with the Lehigh University community. “Overall, it surprised me how mature and understanding many of the people I met here are,” he said. “The difference between college and high school was much larger than I had anticipated and that is both a fantastic and difficult thing. How people deal with that difference determines their attitude and feeling with college. Somehow, I made it through okay.”