Jake Maloney

Senior, Communication

Jake is Mr. Independent. As a senior getting ready to graduate, it has been a journey to feeling independent."Transitioning from Maine to Florida for college sounds like a really big jump for a newly eighteen-year-old who was finally ready to be unleashed into a new space of freedom and responsibility away from parental guidance. And that’s exactly what Jake Maloney,Mr. Independent (not to be confused with Miss Independent @ K. Clarkson & Neyo), was dreaming of when he took off to sunny Tampa, Florida for his first year of college. Jake Maloney’s independence led him to Tampa but started a long time ago before he even began his college experience. It all started when Jake’s parents got divorced at age 11 and ever since then he has blossomed into a fully new identity. For a kid that couldn’t even go to sleepovers at other kids’ houses because he would get so homesick (even if it was 2 streets up the road), Jake took a leap of faith in his independence and did things like traveling by himself at age 12 (and somehow getting away with telling TSA friends and also trial and error. Yes, he has a family who loves him and supports him, but he knew he wanted to stand out and not rely on them for everything. He is Mr. Independent. he was 15). Since then, he gains his independence through his