Petersburg High School senior, link Jordan Costley, online has always had an interest in technology. At the age of 7, symptoms he said he took apart a PlayStation 2 “just to see what the inside looked like.” At 12, his father put a security system on the home computer and he found a way to bypass the system.
Today, Jordan still loves technology. Because it’s always changing, he said he never wants to be left behind so he makes sure to keep up to date with the latest technologies. “Since I was a kid, I always loved spending time on computers and fumbling around with them. So, I pretty much figured I would love working with computers on a day-to-day basis. I kind of would conduct my own research about different things with technology and test it out.”
This fascination with computers is exactly why Jordan wants to major in computer engineering when he goes to college. He wants to someday become a computer or software engineer; he said he’s even thought about working in the cyber-security field. Jordan has already been accepted to University of Virginia’s College at Wise and Ferrum College. However, he hopes to go to the University of Virginia come fall 2014.
Taking a step back from the future, Jordan is a real family man. He has two brothers, a twin named Justin whom he says he is older than by one minute, and a younger brother Gerald. He says his brothers provide a way for him to escape the stresses of school. “It’s kind of like a release from school and everything formal. I can just have fun with them. In school, it’s kind of an expectation because all of the teachers know me and what not. So when I’m around certain teachers, they look at me as ‘oh this is the president of FBLA’ … and when I get home I’m just another kid.”
Although he’s the oldest in his household, Jordan does have an older sibling whom he looks to as his biggest inspiration. His sister, Quishondra Jones, is a recent graduate from Old Dominion University; her similar background is what Jordan says gives him the drive to stay on his academic path. “She came from Petersburg High School just as I came from Petersburg High School and to see her in comparison with the other girls in my school today, it’s a dramatic difference … to see how she turned out even through her circumstances is just remarkable to me.” It is this inspiration from his sister that he hopes to someday have the same effect on his two “younger” brothers.
