For Recent Grad, Climbing Mountain Is Peak Experience

For Recent Grad, Climbing Mountain Is Peak Experience

By Jerry McCormick

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If you had a choice to climb the highest mountain in the lower United States or walk across a stage to get your college degree, which would you choose?

For Cal State San Marcos alumnus Jaedon Spurlock, the decision was simple.

During commencement weekend last month, he and his dad, Jared Spurlock, elected to skip the ceremony and instead climb Mount Whitney.

"I just figured, since my friends aren't going to the ceremony, maybe it'd be all right if I did this instead," Jaedon Spurlock said. "I think it'd be cooler, and I think it'd be more memorable for me."

So, on Monday, May 18, after a weekend spent preparing, father and son completed the 18-hour hike up Mount Whitney.

Mount Whitney is in the Sierra Nevada range of California. It's the highest point in the lower United States, with an elevation of 14,505 feet. Thousands of people try to reach the summit each year, but not all make it, according to the U.S. National Park Service.

The Spurlocks, however, did. And since it was commencement weekend, they held a small ceremony at the peak.

"I brought a little grad cap that I bought on Amazon, and then I also had my honors cord that I got from the school, so I just brought that with me," Spurlock said. "I didn't have too much space in my backpack, so I brought what I could."

It worked out that commencement weekend was the window of opportunity for the Spurlocks to go on this journey, because permits are limited due to the sheer number of requests and the conditions on the mountain at the time, according to the Park Service.

The climb allowed the family to grow closer.

"We've always enjoyed doing outdoor stuff, and we wanted to do things together," Spurlock said. "So, we've just started hiking together."

He said he is used to challenges such as climbing Mount Whitney.

Jaedon was born with congenital profound bilateral sensorineural hearing loss and now hears with cochlear implants. The implants are small rectangular devices that sit behind the ears and act as sound processors. Then then stimulate the nerves in his ear, allowing him to hear.

The implant on the right side isn't working, however, so he's living with low hearing.

"I've always grown up using only my left side," he said. "So, I actually have full hearing on this side, but on this side, I can't hear at all. It's kind of like 50% hearing."

Asked how he navigates this challenge, he said: "A lot of times I won't get what someone says on the first time, so I always be like, 'Oh, could you repeat that?' And they'll say the same thing again. Usually, I get it the second or third time."

He said keeping a positive attitude helps him to accept his disability.

"I think it's just years of growing up with this disability and then being able to accomplish things that other people can," he said. "It's knowing that I'm just as capable as a person as anyone else."

His degree is in software engineering, and he graduated magna cum laude. One of his professors remembers Spurlock as smart and hard-working.

"He never mentioned to me the challenge that he faced", said Yongjie Zheng, a professor of computer science and engineering. "Instead, Jaedon worked as hard as many other students and had lots of industrial experience. He kindly shared with us his technical knowledge and internship experience in some of our classes."

Spurlock plans to move to Orlando, Fla., this summer to begin his career at Lockheed Martin - a massive aerospace, defense and technology corporation - as a software engineer. He said his time at CSUSM helped prepare him for his future.

As his recent climbing experience illustrates, he doesn't accept limitations on what he can accomplish.

"Don't put yourself in a situation where you put yourself to the same expectations as others," he said. "Set your own expectations, set your own level of confidence and just find what you can do."

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