There’s a person who is going to be a stand-out at this weekend’s Ohio State University football game.
The name of this person is Jacob Hamilton.
He is from Bellville, and is one of the members of the Homecoming Court at the university’s football game with Rutgers.
Hamilton, 21, graduated from Clear Fork High School in 2014 and started attending the Mansfield campus for OSU.
With his big, broad smile, he explains that what he’s done isn’t something he likes to talk about much.
At the Mansfield campus, he has a 3.9 grade point average (GPA) and has been active in all kinds of areas.
To get on the court, he had to apply and go through a process of answering questions, furnishing a resume, then getting interviewed by one of the higher level officials at the university.
To get on the Homecoming Court, a student had to have a 3.5 GPA or higher and meet standards set by university organizers.
“I don’t like to talk about myself,” Hamilton says. “God gave me a lot of good opportunities.”
He was able to take college classes while he was in high school. This placed him at a higher level, in meeting requirements for graduation. Though he graduated from high school two years ago, he will graduate from college in spring.
At the Mansfield campus, Hamilton has been a “Buckeye Amassador,” which means he helped with student orientations and participated in summer training events.
He has gotten a field placement with the Salvation Army, and has an internship in career development.
At the Salvation Army, he works with people who need help with utilities or rent assistance.
He is majoring in social work, and he says it is because “there never won’t be a need” for that kind of help.
He wants to focus on helping young people, probably in the area of bereavement, because he has a “passion” for that kind of work
He worked at Hospice of North Central Ohio at bereavement camps for kids in the summer. Part of his job, he said, was letting the youth know they can talk to God.
He said one advisor got him lined up with people at Hospice, and he has thought about working there in the future.
After school, he works with at risk youth and leads devotions there.
As a part of the Ohio State homecoming celebration, Hamilton has to participate in a reception and a parade. He will be announced with others on the court at halftime at the game with Rutgers.
The way of getting onto a homecoming court is different form the way it was years ago. Then, in running for homecoming court contestants had to be sponsored by a dormitory or sorority then go and perform before groups of other OSU students.
Hamilton said he chose to attend the Mansfield campus because it costs about $11,000 more to go to school on campus. The base price for attending in Columbus is $18,000. That doesn’t include dorm or other living fees, or food.
For his appearance at the Ohio State events, Hamilton has to wear a suit. It will be black with light pinstripes, and his dress shirt will be red.
Part of his duty is to ride on a float and appear at a pep rally.
Hamilton said he is willing to wear the required clothing, but is more comfortable in “sweats and sweatshirt.”
As a resident of the Clear Fork valley, he thinks he has been fortunate to carry with him many things he has learned. He said relationships forged in the valley are “second to none.”
He says he was reared here, went to the Bellville fair, volunteered at the Bellville Neighborhood Outreach Center, helped clean streets.
Part of what he has become he says he owes to his parents, Troy and Jennifer Hamilton. He has one sister.
The homecoming court arrangement at Ohio State allows students from all the branch campuses to be chosen. There are five other students from the Mansfield campus who will be part of the weekend homecoming activities.