As James Vandruff returns to classes at BYU for the new semester, he will have an exciting response to question, “What did you do over break?” Vandruff and his father butchered a pig, and he brought some homemade jerky back to school to prove it.
Vandruff, now 22 and majoring in physiology and developmental biology at BYU, was born and raised in a small, rural town in northern Arizona. Vandruff’s favorite pastime is shotgun shooting; his career goal is to become a radiologist. His political views align with most of Arizona. Apart from self-defense and currency, the government should, “keep its hands out of our business,” he said.
Vandruff’s family life is the reason for the contrast—although he grew up in an area where college educations were slightly uncommon, he always felt pressure to uphold his family’s good reputation. His father was a gardener who believed in hard work—and the occasional hog-butchering event. But he was also a doctor.
Vandruff believes that government should stay solidly within the bounds set by the U.S. Constitution He sees education and hard work as the keys to public health, over government action. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he mourned the failing morals in America. He added, though, that this was more of a world problem than a national one.
His solution to the world’s problems lies in hard work, education, and family. But homemade venison jerky is a pretty good idea, too.
I look forward to reading each of the posts! Good luck on the new semester.
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