Jie Dai, also known as Jerome, is a fourth year Electrical Engineering student. He is from Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China, and left his hometown at the age of 18 to come to the United States to attend college at Stevens. On campus, Jerome is involved with the Stevens Orchestra and Stevens Dramatic Society (SDS). In his free time, he enjoys playing music, singing, and doing theater.
Thinking back to his freshman year, Jerome remembers being amazed by the vast number of clubs at Stevens. In addition to being heavily involved with the performing arts on campus, Jerome is also a part of professional organizations like the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE). Three weeks ago, Jerome was in Chicago for the SASE national conference. From this experience, Jerome explains that he has “obtained so much experience about career development from different workshops and the career fair.” He adds that, “as an international student, I feel so much love from all the friendly people I met from different clubs and classes. I have made so many friends throughout the four years I have been at Stevens.”
At the age of 13, Jerome started to play the flute, and he really enjoyed it, especially getting to playing music that he loves listening to. In addition to having played flute for the past eight years, Jerome has also learned to play the piccolo in both the orchestra and the concert band. Even though the piccolo has similar fingerings to the flute, it is difficult to control the volume and play high notes. “Fun fact: the piccolo can hit C7 which is the rightmost note on the piano,” Jerome explains. “I have to wear earplugs while practicing the piccolo,” and he adds that, “Yes, I am the one who is truly complaining the piccolo is too loud, but I still love piccolo.”
Enjoying playing music depends on certain things — one of them being the music being played. Jerome says that once he started playing the flute, he made a point to always play some music that he really loved listening to, and that that this makes him happy and helps him relax after studying. This repertoire ranges from Harry Potter to the Game of Thrones theme. He adds that as a member of the orchestra, he has discovered that playing music in a musical ensemble also develops a lot of teamwork because it is all about putting all the sounds from different instruments together.
As an international student, Jerome expresses how much music means to him in being able to communicate with others. He claims that, “Music has no boundary.” When Jerome came to the United States to attend college, language was a barrier. Seeking to branch out, Jerome joined the orchestra during the first week of his freshman year. Having never been in an orchestra before, Jerome adds that at the time, “everything was difficult for me, and I had trouble understanding the conductor due to all the musical terminology, but through all the friendly people I met in the orchestra, I learned so much more about the orchestra.” Jerome discloses that, “music is an art without words, and it is the same to all of us. It serves as a bridge called friendship between me and the United States students.” Jerome voices that through his playing music with others, he has made so many wonderful friends.
Jerome states that Telly Leung, one of the few Asian-American actors and singers that got a lead role on Broadway, has inspired him to follow his dreams. Another individual who inspires Jerome is Andy Mientus who is known for starring in the musical Spring Awakening. Jerome declares that, “He is such a talented person because he is not only an actor and singer, but he is also a writer.” Jerome adds, “I met him last Tuesday for the new book he just published called The Backstagers and the Ghost Light.”
Jerome’s favorite song is “Defying Gravity” from the Broadway musical Wicked. “I always listen to this song when I feel frustrated because the lyrics and the story behind the song always inspires me to follow my dreams.” One of his favorite lyrics is “everyone deserves a chance to fly.”
My next goal is to be a part of a musical, which will soon be realized next semester. Last spring, Jerome pursued his passion for theater by joining the Stevens Dramatic Society (SDS) in the production of Spring Awakening as a general crew member. Jerome asserts that SDS as a club made him feel like a member of one big family.
As a true Harry Potter fan and proud Hufflepuff, Jerome shares his favorite quote from the books:
“The ones that love us never really leave us. And you can always find them in here [heart].”
-Sirius Black, from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Don’t miss these upcoming performances:
SDS: Peter and the Starcatcher
Thursday 11/8 at 9 p.m.
Friday 11/9 at 8 p.m.
Saturday 11/10 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Stevens Orchestra: Fall Concert
Saturday 11/17 at 8 p.m.
Stevens Concert Band: Fall Concert
Saturday 12/1 at 8 p.m.
Stevens Choir: Fall Concert
Saturday 12/8 at 8 p.m.
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