People of the Pack: Jean Paul

Jean Paul graduated from USD in the fall of 2013 with a master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies. He came to the United States from Cameroon in Central Africa in 2004.

NK: What do you want to do in the future?

JP: I would like to be a soccer coach. I would like to do professional. I would like to do something with the community, like public relations. Me and some of my friends, we organized this soccer league. We have a lot of people around Verm. It’s a diverse mix, there’s people from everywhere like Latin America, South America and Africa. That’s my passion, I just love being communal, so my real thing is like how to get people together. I use my passion, or my skill for sports, as a root to just try to get myself involved with people. It’s great, it’s been working, we have in our soccer about 200-300 people who joined.

NK: What’s one of the hardest things you’ve had to overcome in your life?

JP: One time when I was in Cameroon, I lived in a certain place where people did not speak English, because Cameroon is bilingual, it’s both French and English. I moved to a neighborhood that was just French speaking and I knew a little bit of French, but not enough for me to hang out and have a good time and get to know people. I was not comfortable whatsoever. I didn’t think about it then, because I was young. I guess it was easier for me because I was like 10. It still shakes me a little bit thinking about it. It changed me holistically; it was everything. I went out of my comfort zone and got to spend time with this new group of people. It just changed me, because I really understood people a little bit more. A lot of times I think people look at life from their experiences and what they see. I had to transform. I had to speak in a different language I wasn’t accustomed to, I had to interact in a different way than I was accustomed to, so when I think about it now it was a really good challenge. I explained that I love community and that’s where it started.