Here is a story I wrote in 2010 about my friend, the late JJ Guerrieri (Its not online anymore, so I copied and pasted rather than posting a link): FINDING HIS OWN PATH - Guerrieri s desire for better life leads to his completion of associates degree at USC Union The Union Daily Times (SC) - Wednesday, December 29, 2010 By DERIK VANDERFORD One local student who took an unusual path to get to college has earned his associates degree. Jason J.J. Guerrieri was working with painter Don West in 2006 and was hired to paint at USC Union. Guerrieri vividly remembers painting the awning over the main entrance of the universitys library building. It was in the heat of the summertime, scorching hot. That awning was black and metal, so I couldnt even touch it. I had to lay a tarp down just so I could sit on it and paint it, Guerrieri said. I was up there thinking about having no insurance and being tired of manual labor. There was nothing but concrete under me if I fell and I thought I needed to do something to better myself. After applying a fresh coat of paint, Guerrieri climbed down from the awning and went inside the building to inquire about enrollment. Until that day, Guerrieri s only ambition was to become a full-time musician. In fact, he found out about the painting job after playing in a band with West. Guerrieri was directed across the street to the office of Dr. Avery Fouts in the universitys Main Building. The second I walked into Fouts office, I saw a Miles Davis poster on the wall and it gave me cold chills, he said. I thought, This is a sign from God. Im meant to be here. Fouts showed Guerrieri a list of classes and signed him up. Had he not had that poster up, I wouldnt have come to school, Guerrieri added. Then I found out he was a philosophy teacher, and that made it even cooler. Ive always been kind of a natural philosopher anyway. That meeting led Guerrieri to the first college class of his life - Fouts 9 a.m. Introduction to Philosophy. That class set the bar for my college career, Guerrieri said. Guerrieri said other students in class seemed bored with reading Socrates, Plato, Descartes and his favorite - Jean-Paul Sartre. Guerrieri , however, was vocal in class and could not get enough of the classic philosophers. They were eloquently describing all the things I had been thinking but never put into words, he said. It just said it all. Feelings of mysterious wonder. Fouts awarded Guerrieri with the annual philosophy award for the 2009-2010 school year. J.J. manifests the spirit of the humanities more than any student I have had at USC-Union, Fouts said. Guerrieri also mentioned that Fouts was always willing to listen to his problems outside of class whenever he felt the need to open up to someone. He actually talked to me like a human being and tried to guide me, Guerrieri said. He became a friend instead of a professor. Through Fouts, Guerrieri met English professor Dr. Denise Shaw, who introduced him to literature he says changed his life. Dr. Shaw turned me on to Faulkner. I love Faulkner now, but I had never even read anything by him until I had her class, Guerrieri said. He also said he would have never even finished his second semester if not for Fouts and Shaw. They were my college mother and father, Guerrieri laughed. They helped me want to learn. You have to want to learn; you cant be forced to soak up information you dont want to know. He said he owes his degree to them, along with his mother - Mary Knox - who has shown him nothing but love and support along the way. Guerrieri attended Lockhart Schools for grades K-9 and then moved to Union High School where he graduated in 2000. After working several jobs, he moved to Hawaii in 2004. After suffering a broken leg, he returned home to Union to heal and figure out the next step in his life. All along the way, he played guitar with various bands in the region. My very first band was a country band - Trey Harris and the Lounge Hounds, he said. I played with them 2-3 years, and we played gigs in Nashville and Jacksonville, Florida. Guerrieri said that was how he learned to play on stage in front of people. Before that I was scared to death. I wouldnt play in front of anybody, and if I did I would turn my back to them. Since then, Guerrieri has played with numerous bands of various genres. He currently plays with The Scarborough Collective, which is a band started by USC Upstate professor Dr. Doug Scarborough. Guerrieri describes the group as a soul/rock/blues/jazz band. They are all really good musicians, and I was flattered to be asked to play with them, he said. Guerrieri said his taste for music was altered at age 12 by his stepfather - John Knox. I was into stuff like Nirvana, but he turned me on to real music, Guerrieri said. He was into Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Clapton. I would go through his CD collection and it totally flipped me. Around the same time, a friend of Guerrieri s - guitarist Brandon Hagan - also showed him a VHS tape of Stevie Ray Vaughan. It was Live at the El Mocambo, Guerrieri said. That one tape made me want to become a musician. Guerrieri said he is extremely thankful for music and the way it has shaped his life. When you hear something you like and forget all your troubles - even if its just for one minute - that is a blessing from God, and I treat it like that, he said. I think thats what everyones motivation should be. Its a communication thing. Its a dialogue with the audience. For Guerrieri , education is the only thing close to music in terms of personal fulfillment. USC Union gave me a sense of fulfillment I couldnt find anywhere else, Guerrieri said. After talking to Fouts that one time, I walked away happier than I was when I walked in the door. That is a blessing.
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 15:07:57 +0000
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