Name: Jake Servino
Year: Senior
Hometown: Pearl River, NY
Major: Contemporary Music Studies
Graduating Year: Fall 2015
Relationship Status: In a Relationship
Organization you are part of: Absolut A Cappella
Birthday: November 14th
HC: Why did you choose to go to SUNY New Paltz?
JS: I chose to go here because I was aware of the artistic, liberal and free thinking opportunities. When I visited the campus, (both in high school and again whilst attending community college back in 2011), I saw that the school was full of life. The students were excited to be participating in what they were doing. The architecture and the look of the school itself was not very flashy and did not originally try to advertise how expensive it looked. Most of all SUNY New Paltz’s charm was in the students that went there. As I looked around, and as I still do, I saw people who weren’t afraid to be who they were. Being openly gay and often feeling a little weird in high school, I figured that this was the place for me.
HC: What about music made you want to pursue it?
JS: I have been singing my whole life, and have learned some piano by memorization since high school. Before New Paltz, however, my training was mostly by ear and just out of repetition. I was finally ready to take on the challenge of understanding the how and why music was defined in a written form. I originally thought I wanted to compose and later learned that just studying pre existing music was satisfying enough. Music is still a huge part of my life and because of the opportunity I had to learn about the ins and outs of it I am now confident in the possibility of pursuing more musical opportunities in the future.
HC: How has being in Absolut A Cappella influenced your time at SUNY New Paltz?
JS: Without Absolut a Cappella I definitely would not have the amazing friends I do today. It is true that as people come and go the group changes in dynamic but that has certainly helped with my ability to adapt to new people and increase my social skills. I also have not always been the most outgoing person so I am so grateful everyday for getting that phone call in the fall 2012 three years ago where everyone screamed: “YOU GOT IN!” It is true that college is not just about classes and as a student coming out of high school, transferring, etc. a student needs to get themselves involved in an extracurricular. This is because it helps round out the structure of your week, gives you a reason to get through the all-nighters and most of all when you are having a bad day, week, or even a bad semester, singing with a group of people who love to do what you love to do makes that bad day not seem so bad anymore.
HC: If you weren’t pursuing music, what would you be studying?
JS: If I was not studying music I probably would be studying psychology. I have taken a few psychology courses just for leisure in my time at New Paltz. I have found the information, and discussions in class really fascinating and really helped explain a lot about the world around me. Music is definitely important and I find ability to find expression very satisfying but psychology helped me answer questions. When taking social psychology for example I just remember learning and thinking about things in a perspective that I have never taken advantage of before.
HC: What is something most people don’t really know about you?
JS: I am usually pretty honest with most people; as much as I would like to think I am super cryptic and mysterious. One thing that comes to mind is that I almost became an Italian language major. I studied Italian in school for about six years and I found I was actually pretty good at studying a foreign language. Speaking it especially came better to me than writing it, which I always kind of attributed to the whole musical aspect of my brain. For instance I was able to understand spoken Italian better than reading Italian, similarly to how I am better at dictating music (listening to notes and writing them down on staff paper) than I am at sight reading music.
I even looked at Middlebury College in Vermont and was pretty close to applying there because of their reputation for being a good school for foreign language studies. In the end I decided art was the better path to pursue my creative side, and that did not work out, and I landed in music.
HC: What’s your guilty pleasure TV show and why?
JS: Once Upon a Time… Because I have always loved sci-fi and fantasy but I am also a sucker for Disney and classic fairytales. I did not even start watching it until a year after the first season came out and when I first heard about it thought it was the dumbest thing ever. But now my mom and I traditionally binge watch it when I am home for long periods of time.
HC: What is your motivation to get through the day?
JS: My motivation for getting through the day is not always so easy to find. I have in the past struggled with depression and know how it feels to want to just lie in bed, and sleep through the day. I think the light at the end of the tunnel is really what gets me through. Knowing that there are friends and family who I can talk to, am able to just talk and have a beer with. I can be pretty dramatic but I am also a realist and know that sometimes I just want simple things, like having a coke with a friend who can be just as weird as me.
HC: If you were able to give advice to your high school self, what would say?
JS: I actually would maybe suggest that I did not try and rush into what I wanted. “Perhaps you could go to community college for a year,” I would say, “save some money, get general ed classes out of the way and just take a year or two to really think about what is best for you.”
I remember actually once when my cousin was helping me apply to college he turned to me and asked: “have you ever thought about just taking a year off? Just work locally and sort out what you want out of life?” I did not know what he meant at the time but now I think I do. We were just expected to know what we wanted to do for the rest of our lives right out of high school and there was never really any time to stop and smell the roses.
HC: What came first, the chicken or the egg?
JS: I didn’t study… sorry.
HC: What was your first screen name and why did you choose it?
JS: First of all, so happy this is a question! My first screen name on aol instant messenger was “sharkattack307” and I never changed it the whole time I had AIM. The reason why was that I did not really know how. I originally picked it though cause I did, and have always had, a love for sharks. My favorite movie is “Jaws” and when I was really little I wanted to be a marine biologist— until I learned about the biology part which I did not care about. (307 was the number of the house that I grew up in).
HC: Any last words?
JS: I feel like this is going to be like the end of a yearbook. Like you just want people to sign it and move on— “I don’t care about your note that is taking up half the page so no one else can sign that page…” so I don’t know who is legitimately going to read these responses but writing the responses definitely was pretty nostalgic and therapeutic. So thanks for that. People who have known me at different times in my life probably have very different perspectives about who I am; this might just be obvious but I have had people who tell me I am too negative, I am a spaz, I am hysterical, etc. So as much as it is easy to say to someone “do not let others define you,” I would be lying if I said that I did not care completely about other people’s approval.
Life is relative and I only have one tattoo on my body but I will never regret having it. It is an inkblot that looks kind of like a butterfly. It is really meant though for anyone to interpret it however they want. Why? Because life is full of ups and downs, depending on how you perceive them— but to me, in the end life can be something beautiful.