Mock News Profile

Dupuis spending time with his niece
 before attending High Point
Photo Courtesy of: Natalie Dupuis

Dupuis Migrates South

Evan Dupuis, a junior in the Qubein School of Communication, began his journey at High Point University in August after spending two years at Penn State University.

After a semester away from college and working three part-time jobs, Dupuis decided to return to school and applied to the one he nearly attended after graduating from Unionville High School in 2013.  Since his admission, Dupuis has been adjusting to the culture of the university and adopting the fundamental principles that High Point practices, which, according to him, are vastly different from Penn State's. 

"The facilities alone are jaw-dropping, not to mention the kindness and intentionality of all the staff members I've interacted with," Dupuis said in an interview Friday.

As a student at Penn State, Dupuis said he enjoyed many aspects of the school, including the football games, the school pride and the diverse population of students.  But he also remarked that the university had glaring issues that the administration was neglecting.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with being known as a party school, but when that characteristic becomes your most notable accolade, it can get out of hand," Dupuis said.

Dupuis went on to say that the Greek System at Penn State needs to be addressed, as every weekend there are countless reports of sexual assault, hazing, fighting, drug-use, students being hospitalized and other byproducts of irresponsible partying.

"The Greek System has become less about brotherhood and sisterhood, and is now just a haven for conditional relationships and cocaine use," Dupuis said of the PSU fraternities and sororities.

Because of the misguided culture of Penn State and his dislike of his classes, Dupuis decided in December 2014 to take a semester off and find part-time work, while planning on attending a different school in the fall.  Dupuis worked on the grounds crew at Penn Oaks golf course, as a cashier at a local barbecue stop and as a floor employee at a Regal Cinema movie theater.

"That was one of the strangest times of my life, but everyone needs to work a weird job at some point.  I just happened to have three at once" Dupuis said.

After his Spring of odd jobs, Dupuis returned to his usual summer job as a camp counselor at a Christian sports camp near Pittsburgh called Summer's Best Two Weeks.

"I love that place," Dupuis said. "Every time I go there I learn more about myself and who I want to be, which was so helpful for me when I started to think about going back to school."

Dupuis applied to High Point in April 2015, but due to complications with his transfer from Penn State, he didn't actually know he would be attending until one week before classes started.  When he was accepted, he took the leap of faith and quickly started readying things to attend a new school.

"It all happened so fast, I was 99 percent sure I would be taking another semester off and working more random jobs," Dupuis said.  "Out of the blue, I got an email from admissions saying they would waive the required forms from Penn State and invited me to attend. I was ecstatic."

Dupuis, a political science major at Penn State, decided to study journalism when he made the move to High Point.  His hope is that after graduation the school will have prepared him to pursue a career in writing, particularly for late-night, network television.

Dupuis said his "dream job" would be to work for a personality like Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon or Conan O'Brien.  He believes he can bring fresh ideas and a pleasurable perspective to the late-night arena.

"These last few years, I've been so concerned about my future, but finally I am relaxed and enjoying college to the point that I can live in the present," he said. "And presently I can say I'm happy I'm here."