The Quality of Life Project aims to tell the stories of Villanova students. This week’s feature is sophomore Ben Jaeger.

“For a lot of my life I have been less talk, more ears, but college has been different because it has pushed me to be more vocal. My past tendencies for listening has led me to learn so much about other people’s’ emotions and perspectives. Maybe I get that from my mother. She was a Philosophy major. It’s actually her 50th birthday, so at the moment, my mind is with her. I am 110% a momma’s boy. 

“This semester started out really strange. I was out of tune, because I was abroad in Singapore for 4 months before. I wasn’t connecting with campus. It got better though, and I have been meeting the most interesting, fantastic people. I’m constantly taken aback by how cool some people can be, and that’s just the general mood of [these] wonderful four months. Nothing fascinates me more than people, and figuring out what makes every person different. It’s made me more secure with the person that I am now. I’ve realized there are no ultimate goals in my relationships, or really any part of my life: I enjoy just being am where I am. There are good and bad parts to that, but it’s made me feel so more grounded.

 “I don’t see myself in an office job. At heart I think I really have an entrepreneurial spirit. I like variety. I  would love the pick it up and go lifestyle, even if I were to have 6 kids or something wild like that. I’m thinking of working with emerging economies. It would allow me to live with the cultures I work with, so I can really know what they know. It’s not my responsibility to have assumptions; the most important thing is to listen.”