{"id":8277,"date":"2023-12-19T21:03:12","date_gmt":"2023-12-19T21:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/?p=8277"},"modified":"2023-12-19T21:03:12","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T21:03:12","slug":"grccs-jaret-jaramillo-balances-athletics-academics-and-community-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/2023\/12\/19\/grccs-jaret-jaramillo-balances-athletics-academics-and-community-service\/","title":{"rendered":"GRCC\u2019s Jaret Jaramillo balances athletics, academics, and community service"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"GRAND RAPIDS, Mich, Dec. 12, 2023: <\/strong>\u00a0Jaret Jaramillo has been a trailblazer since high school when, as a senior, he made Kent City history by becoming his school\u2019s first-ever boys soccer player to sign to play in college with a commitment to the new soccer program at Grand Rapids Community College.<\/p>\n

He graduated in the spring of 2023 as Kent City\u2019s all-time leader in both goals and assists, even though he missed his entire sophomore season due to injury. Now, as a first-year GRCC student he continues to thrive. He had a great first season on the pitch for the Raiders, playing in 18 games and starting 10. But, more importantly, he is getting the world-class education he had hoped for when he first signed with the Raiders.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s studying in the GRCC\u00a0Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning\/Refrigeration (HVACR) program<\/a>, and those classes have been his favorites a semester into his collegiate experience. He\u2019s also excited about the path forward, which he hopes will include first earning his associate degree at GRCC and then transferring to Ferris State University for further education before entering the workforce.<\/p>\n

\u201cDown the road, I see myself at a job where I enjoy getting paid good money with what\u00a0I’ve learned,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd someday, hopefully I will be married happily and maybe have a small family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jaramillo said he\u2019s getting a little taste of future milestones in his life thanks to a small business his parents run that he often works at. It\u2019s called\u00a0J&A Decorating<\/a>\u00a0(for the first names of his father Joseph and his mother Arianna), and it offers decorating for all types of events, especially weddings and quincea\u00f1eras. The business has been part of the family for a dozen years. Jaramillo began to pitch in at a young age and now can be found many weekends helping set up and tear down for events.<\/p>\n

He has tried to bring a similar willingness to help out to his first season of collegiate soccer where, he said, the camaraderie he experienced as part of the 2023 season was a true highlight.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u00a0like that everyone gets along with each other and how fast I make new friends,\u201d Jaramillo said. \u201cAnd the coaches are great people.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s high praise considering his first coach, and soccer hero, is his father, a Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity employee who has been playing soccer since he was a young boy growing up in Mexico.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe also played soccer at Sparta High School where he was All Conference, All District and All Region and then played four years for Grand Valley State University,\u201d Jaramillo said with a small smile of pride. \u201cHe got me playing when I was seven, and I have loved it ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jaramillo also was proud to recently receive the Community Youth Award for a Hispanic student who positively represents the Hispanic youth community and also is a role model in college. He was nominated by Lupe Ramos Montigny of\u00a0the Committee to Honor C\u00e9sar E. Ch\u00e1vez<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an award based on an inspiring Hispanic student who puts into action the values and legacy of C\u00e9sar E. Ch\u00e1vez on a daily basis,\u201d Jaramillo said. \u201cA student who is a positive role model for other youth in his school and his community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The award was presented at the Committee to Honor C\u00e9sar E. Ch\u00e1vez Hispanic Excellence Scholarship and Community Awards Gala.<\/p>\n

In the video that introduced him prior to receiving his award, Jaramillo spoke movingly about Ch\u00e1vez and the impact he has had on a generation of Hispanic youth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that one of C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez\u2019s\u00a0 values that I can relate to is sacrifice,\u201d he said. \u201cSomething that C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez has done that has impacted me was when he sacrificed himself for the farmworkers, so they could have better wages and better farm working conditions. This has impacted me to serve my community because I want to better many more people’s lives and help as many people as I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich, Dec. 12, 2023: \u00a0Jaret Jaramillo has been a trailblazer since high school when, as a senior, he made Kent City history by becoming his school\u2019s first-ever boys soccer player to sign to play in college with a commitment to the new soccer program at Grand Rapids Community College. He graduated in the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8278,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_rtcl_gb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"wf_post_folders":[177],"class_list":["post-8277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-michigan"],"aioseo_notices":[],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GRCC-Jaret-Jaramillo-Signs-with-GRCC-1-1.jpg",700,578,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GRCC-Jaret-Jaramillo-Signs-with-GRCC-1-1.jpg",700,578,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GRCC-Jaret-Jaramillo-Signs-with-GRCC-1-1.jpg",700,578,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GRCC-Jaret-Jaramillo-Signs-with-GRCC-1-1-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GRCC-Jaret-Jaramillo-Signs-with-GRCC-1-1-300x248.jpg",300,248,true],"large":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GRCC-Jaret-Jaramillo-Signs-with-GRCC-1-1.jpg",640,528,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GRCC-Jaret-Jaramillo-Signs-with-GRCC-1-1.jpg",700,578,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GRCC-Jaret-Jaramillo-Signs-with-GRCC-1-1.jpg",700,578,false],"rtcl-gallery":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GRCC-Jaret-Jaramillo-Signs-with-GRCC-1-1-700x462.jpg",700,462,true],"rtcl-thumbnail":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GRCC-Jaret-Jaramillo-Signs-with-GRCC-1-1-320x240.jpg",320,240,true],"rtcl-gallery-thumbnail":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GRCC-Jaret-Jaramillo-Signs-with-GRCC-1-1-150x105.jpg",150,105,true],"psacp-medium":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GRCC-Jaret-Jaramillo-Signs-with-GRCC-1-1.jpg",500,413,false],"rpwe-thumbnail":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GRCC-Jaret-Jaramillo-Signs-with-GRCC-1-1-45x45.jpg",45,45,true]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"LaPrensa Newspaper","author_link":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/author\/laprensa\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Michigan<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"GRAND RAPIDS, Mich, Dec. 12, 2023: \u00a0Jaret Jaramillo has been a trailblazer since high school when, as a senior, he made Kent City history by becoming his school\u2019s first-ever boys soccer player to sign to play in college with a commitment to the new soccer program at Grand Rapids Community College. He graduated in the","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8277"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8277\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8279,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8277\/revisions\/8279"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8277"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=8277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}