{"id":589,"date":"2017-05-22T04:23:29","date_gmt":"2017-05-22T04:23:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stories.kera.org\/class-of-17\/?p=589"},"modified":"2017-05-26T19:18:48","modified_gmt":"2017-05-26T19:18:48","slug":"learning-to-move-on-early-in-life-jerry-harris-is-ready-for-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/class-of-17\/2017\/05\/22\/learning-to-move-on-early-in-life-jerry-harris-is-ready-for-college\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning To Move On Early In Life, Jerry Harris Is Ready For College"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jerry Harris, 18, is a senior at Plainview High School in Ardmore, Oklahoma. After his parents split years ago, he left North Texas to live with his dad in Oklahoma. Jerry has gone through high school with a learning disability, but he’s graduating on time at the end of May.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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Dealing with Change<\/h5>\n

Jerry lives in southern Oklahoma, but he still visits\u00a0the brick Coppell home where he used to live with his sister Abbey and mom Susie Evans.<\/p>\n

He’s ready for college. He\u2019ll attend the University of Oklahoma and can hardly wait to join a fraternity \u2014 like his parents and grandparents \u2014 \u00a0make new friends and take on tough pre-med classes.<\/p>\n

Back in eighth\u00a0grade, he was a gawky kid, dealing with a learning disability called dysgraphia<\/a>. It interferes with the ability to write or print, to spell, and legibly put thoughts on paper.<\/p>\n

His obsession back then was basketball.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt pretty much means everything,” he said in an earlier interview, when he was 13. “Like, if I go three days without playing, I\u2019ll get the jitters. I\u2019ll start bouncing a ball inside the house. I\u2019ll get in trouble because I\u2019m bouncing the ball so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A

A photo of Jerry Harris as a child with his sister, Abbey Harris, and mother Susie Evans at their home in Coppell. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/p><\/div>\n

Sticking to his mom\u2019s highly organized rules helped 13-year-old Jerry stay out of trouble. She even made him sign a contract. For instance, if he didn\u2019t help sister Abbey with school work, he could be grounded.<\/p>\n

Mom\u2019s structure wasn\u2019t all that chafed him. His parents\u2019 divorce years earlier still hurt. In busy, suburban Coppell High, crowded with go-getter kids, he felt no freedom.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of events to do around here,” Jerry says now. “I used to be in basketball full time and then homework down here and all that, but you know up in Oklahoma, there\u2019s not a lot to do. And I mean my life has been extraordinarily relaxing.”<\/p>\n

“He\u2019s always been an old soul, mature.”
Susie Evans, Jerry's mom<\/div>
<\/div><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n

\"Jerry

Jerry playing video games in his room at home in Coppell. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

‘It’s Been Difficult But Good’<\/h6>\n

Jerry\u2019s no slacker, though.<\/p>\n

At Plainview High, he played basketball and even football this year, which he hadn\u2019t done since junior high. Believing Plainview\u2019s team could go all the way, he tried out. For the first time in history, the Indians played for a state title.<\/p>\n

During these Plainview years, Jerry and his mother, would still get together, if only briefly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019ve been many times we would meet in Gainesville and have dinner and he goes home,” she said. “I come back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"2017:

2017: Jerry Harris hangs out with his sister and his friend, Jake Simmons, after dinner. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/p><\/div>\n

Then it was back to Ardmore, and books, as Jerry excelled in math and science. He\u2019s getting a jump on college: He\u2019s already earned 21 hours of credit. His college GPA \u2013 4.0 \u2014 is beating his high school average.<\/p>\n

This hard work wasn\u2019t pain free. To overcome the dysgraphia, he learned to take notes on a laptop. And Jerry chose Ardmore after his parents divorced. That was tough, his mom says.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s been difficult but good. I think we have a really good relationship. It\u2019s probably stronger than if he lived here,” she says. “I think I learned to keep hands off but with him, I think he still respected my structure with the way he lived his life there in Oklahoma.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thinking About The Next Stage<\/h5>\n

Along the way, Jerry also decided he wants to be an anesthesiologist. He accepts the life-and-death balance required every time a patient goes under. Make a mistake and someone could die.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not saying that I plan on losing a patient or anything, but if that comes, I\u2019ll be sad about it, but I\u2019m not going to let it hang over the rest of my life,” Jerry says. “At some point you\u2019ve got to move on. And I feel like that kind of formed the moving-on stage with me when I moved to Oklahoma because it devastated Mom, but you got to move on at some point.\u201d<\/p>\n

At this point, Susie Owen is feeling good about Jerry and how he\u2019ll handle the temptations of college.<\/p>\n

“He\u2019s always been an old soul, mature. He\u2019s a mature young man. I\u2019m not too concerned about the drinking or things like that,” she says. “I think he\u2019ll make good choices. He\u2019s got goals set for himself and realizes if he goes off that path, he won\u2019t reach those goals.”<\/p>\n

\"May

Jerry with sister, Abbey, and mother, Susie Evans, at home in Coppell. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/p><\/div>\n

One of little sister Abbey\u2019s goals is to learn as much from Jerry as she can before he leaves for college. She\u2019s 12 now, managing her own learning\u00a0challenges. Abbey admires her brother\u2019s independence and accomplishments. He also keeps her honest.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t like to lie to him,” Abbey says. “I don\u2019t know why I lie to my mom, but not to him. Eh. I\u2019m close to a teenager. It happens.<\/p>\n

What happens next for Jerry: Graduation. It\u2019s Saturday morning.\u00a0 Mom and Abbey will make the trek to Ardmore to be there.<\/p>\n

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Class of ’17 Yearbook<\/h5>\n

Name:<\/strong>\u00a0Jerry Harris
\nSchool:<\/strong>\u00a0Plainview High School in Ardmore, Oklahoma; formerly Coppell Middle School East in Coppell, Texas
\nGraduation date:<\/strong> May 27, 2017<\/p>\n

Next step:<\/strong>\u00a0He’ll be attending the University of Oklahoma.<\/p>\n

Dream job:<\/strong> Anesthesiologist<\/p>\n

Favorite quote:<\/strong> “Hard work pays off all the time.”<\/p>\n

If I could do one thing over, it would be:<\/strong> “Not taking the last time my Uncle Jim was in Ardmore for granted, before he passed unexpectedly.”<\/p>\n

Jerry Harris, Through The Years<\/h6>\n\n
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