When you’re walking in Hamilton Hall, the communications building at William Paterson University, you’ll be surrounded by students between the ages of 18 and 23.
Gerard James, a 38-year-old student studying Film, Television, and Audio, is not somebody you’d expect to be your classmate.
For James, the route to college was a little more complicated than the average student’s. After high school, James joined the U.S. military.
“Watching 9/11 unfold and living in a military community outside of Ft.Campbell K.Y, you either went to college or joined the military. I didn’t have the grades to continue my track career in which I would have had 4 D1 offers, so I decided to join the Army as a M1 Armor Crewman aka a tanker over the objections of both my parents as my step dad was a fueler for 20 years in the Army.”
James’ military experience took him around the world and shaped him into the man he is today. “I was there for 8 years from 2006-2014. I was stationed in Ft.Carson C.O, deployed to Mosul, Iraq; a 15 month tour from 29 Dec 2007-16 Feb 2009.”
Places such as Ft.Knox K.Y, Ft. Benning G.A, and Seoul, South Korea brought James all over the world to serve his mission of protecting his country.
Right away, James knew his purpose. “I have so many memories from the morning I raised my hand to switch units and deploy to Iraq in the first year I was in. It was the beginning of Oct 2007 and within 6 weeks I was training to head overseas.”
The military isn’t ideal when it comes to the holidays, James mentions. “I went home for Christmas on Dec 20, flew back to Ft. Carson C.O. on Dec 26, and was on a plane to Iraq Dec 29 2007. All of this to be stationed at Ft. Knox K.Y. with my mom before the Army decided the Armor School needed to be moved to GA to be closer with the Infantry since we work closely together.”
At age 28, Gerard James was ready to start the next chapter of his life. To his peers and professors that he has now, anything based with Political Science would be unexpected if you knew Gerard.
“It’s crazy because at first I was studying Political Science when I thought I wanted to get into politics. Then the pandemic happened and I was laying on my couch watching “ First Take” and Stephen A. Smith was talking about his book coming out. It sounds crazy but it was that moment I knew I wanted to talk about sports professionally.”
James made a major adjustment moving from down south to New Jersey to chase this dream and decided to attend Sussex County Community College before enrolling in a four-year school.
From there, he landed his first job that would further him in the sports media industry, working for Big State Sports, a media brand that covers high school sports in New Jersey.
“I had a professor in Dan Cleary who taught Sports Commentary if I’m not mistaken. It was in that class where I was able to meet other classmates that were also either already working or were going to be joining up in the summer for the internship program. From there I was a color commentator/ cameraman and now I am a producer.”
When thinking about where to go to school post Sussex County, James had William Paterson in mind, largely due to the fact that the school has produced talent such as Emmy Award-winning broadcaster Kevin Burkhardt.
“I knew I wanted to come to WP before I even graduated from SCCC. My inspiration came from Kevin Burkhardt as he is one of my favorites to tune in to . After graduating from SCCC, it was either East Stroudsburg University or William Paterson University, and WP actually has the better program so I came here. But also that was determined by my financial aid. So in the end I was able to get what I wanted.”
From there, James got involved in the campus’s award-winning radio station, Brave New Radio. But nerves got the better of him at first.
“Memories that stick out since being here would have to be my first time coming to the station and being nervous because I was new and a lot older than everybody else.”
He is now the co-host of Morning Sports Drive, a program that runs every Tuesday morning from 7–9 a.m.
Along with being a part of the radio station, James has had plenty of campus involvement, appearing as an analyst for the university’s sports television program, WP Sports Desk, and working for the campus Office of Veteran and Military Affairs.
It doesn’t matter how old you are — Gerard James is living proof that age is just a number. The future is bright for somebody like James, who proves that it’s never too late to follow your passion and start a new chapter.
