Hey guys, my name is John Linkous and I’m from a growing
small town called Hendersonville in the
mountains of western North Carolina. I’m fresh out of the University of North
Carolina and just turned 22 at the end of
May. If there’s anything you have to know
about me or one way I would use to describe my life, it would be “blessed.” All my life I have been extremely blessed and
continue to see and experience more of God’s blessings every day.
Let’s start with the family.
My mom and dad also both went to UNC and actually met there. I never had a chance to be anything but a die
hard Tar Heel fan, which is exactly what I am!
My dad is my hero, as I feel every son’s should be (though unfortunately
this is all too often not the case in today’s society). I think he is the smartest man I know and I
can only hope to be the father to my children one day that he has been and is
for my sister and me. My mom is an angel. Now let me elaborate on that a bit. Anyone who knows her identifies her as one of
the sweetest ladies in the world, which she absolutely is. Being her son, however, combined with
episodes of my childhood mischievousness, has also allowed me to see the lion
within – a different side most will never see.
Finally my sister, Jennifer – 16 going on 27. It took her about 4 seconds to adjust to
having a license and a car. In all
seriousness, she is a beautiful girl who has a good heart, a good head on her
shoulders and is constantly maturing.
She’s also a very close friend despite the age difference and I use her
as my excuse to act like I’m eight years old when I’m home.
Next, the friends. I
won that lottery. There is a core group
of friends from high school that is just as close today, 4 years after
graduating high school, as we were then.
About half of this group I have been friends with since first grade, and
the other half since sixth when multiple elementary schools joined one middle
school. The best part about this group
is that everyone is completely unique and no one is afraid to be exactly who
they are. The group isn’t special
because everyone conforms and is the same, it’s special because everyone is
incredibly different in many ways and brings so much to the table and everyone
loves one another for it. I also love to
meet new people and I’m constantly making new, also wonderful, friends. I consider every friend I’ve ever had a
treasure – but there is definitely a very special place in my heart for that
core group. Also, one last thing… big
shout out to Adam who will be getting married in July (2008), and I suspect a
couple others aren’t too far behind.
As for me, I’ll just give a little list of some events of my
life that might help you to get to know me a little better. I’ve been skydiving, bungee jumping, and
cliff jumping off a 75 foot cliff. The
latter two of those came in Bali, Indonesia and Koh Phi Phi, Thailand, respectively, during travels on a
semester of study abroad in Singapore
and hitting up all the SE Asian countries… lots more stories from that
adventure. I love all sports, playing
and watching, but nothing is even a close second to college basketball. However, my dad and I have been to every
major league baseball stadium, a feat that took parts of four summers. From that and other trips, I have seen most
of the country and been to 43 states… and always looking to add to that
total. One of those states was Alaska
and I have actually been on a cruise ship up there that hit an iceberg in the
middle of the night and we had to get off on lifeboats (not nearly as dramatic
as I can make it sound, but it still happened and is a cool story to
tell). I’ve been a part of breaking a
very expensive window at a hotel at the beach with a water balloon, and have
mistakenly let bad milk out in a high school P.E. locker room, stinking up the entire
gym – as well as myself – for the rest of the day. And over four years at UNC, I’d be willing to
bet that only a handful of students went to as many athletic games to support
the Heels as I did. Finally, my first
real job, which also holds a special place in my heart, was working in the
kitchen at a summer camp (also with most of that core group of friends I
mentioned) and I have done that for 5 summers.
There is no better job. What
other job can you work at with your best friends all day, with the music
cranked up, constantly able to eat food, and then, when working hours are over,
have access to a lake and a blob, horses, tennis courts, archery, riflery, gym,
and all kinds of fun kids and counselors to play with! None that I know of. The name of it is Camp Pinnacle
and that also happens to be where a majority of the movie, “Heavyweights” was
filmed if you’re familiar with it. If
you’ve got kids, send them there! J
Lastly, there’s plenty more about me to get to know, but
hopefully anyone who knows me would agree that one of my defining
characteristics is hope and optimism – which others may better describe as
cheesy. There’s always something
positive to be gained from every situation or a better way of looking at
things. If you’re reading this and have
any interest at all in getting to know me, I desperately want to get to know
you as well. Together we will make a
difference in this world.
God Bless you all!
