APPLICANT #15: Is Jonathan Cummings the Young & Free SC Spokesperson?

Jonathan Cummings is a 24-year-old photo journalist from North Charleston, South Carolina.

Here is Jonathan's video application:

Here is Jonathan's current situation:

"I am currently enrolled at Trident Technical College (though I decided not to take any courses this spring or summer – because of work). I hope to transfer to College of Charleston some time in the near future. I’m going for a bachelor’s in biology and environmental science. I want to be an environmental reporter/nature photographer, and the biology degree will help give me the edge I need to compete in that field.

I love the outdoors and am very big into hiking and camping. I grew up in Washington State so mountains are my sanctuary. I love the idea of being a backpack journalist – where you stuff all your gear (digital camera, video camera, laptop, etc.) into your backpack and just go and explore the world and meet it’s people. That would be my dream job."

Here is Jonathan's blog post:

"I was rummaging through my attic, in a desperate search for an old book that I must have lost, when I stumbled across a small rectangular box. I immediately recognized the box and beamed as I opened it. I had found my pogs.

For those of you who don’t know, pogs are small, circular, cardboard disks that were originally used back in the 30’s or 40’s as bottle caps on milk and juice bottles. The name originates from the brand name POG, a type of Hawaiian juice that was a mix of passionfruit, orange, and guava.

Kids used to collect the bottle caps and play games with them. When plastic jugs replaced glass bottles, and their unassuming milk caps, the game lost its following. It wasn’t until the early ‘90s that the game was commercialized and pog-hysteria swept the nation. The new “cooler” pogs came sporting an assortment of colors and pictures. You could get pogs with a picture of your favorite comic book character or the logo of your favorite football team printed on them.

Everyone seemed to have their own version of the game, however the basic principles remained. There would be a stack of pogs in the middle and everyone would take turns trying to flip them face down by slamming another pog on top of the pile. Sometimes you would use a bigger, heavier pog made of medal or plastic…aptly name a “slammer.” You could simply play for fun, where everyone kept their own pogs, or you could play for keeps, where you get to keep the pogs you flipped over.

My little discovery brought back a lot of great childhood memories; from playing pogs for hours on end with my best friends, to getting yelled at by mom for putting a dent in the table with my torpedo slammer (okay…maybe that one wasn’t so great at the time). So if you still have your pogs somewhere in an attic or drawer, then I recommend pulling them out and relishing in your childhood for a little while. I’ll even challenge you to a game. However I must warn you, I used to be quite the pogger and I always played for keeps.

Johnathan"

The Y&F SC Team

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