Q&A with Jacquelyn Burrer

ASL: How do you enjoy spending your free time?

JB: I really like to read, I’m constantly going to half price books and getting more books. I like
adventuring out in nature and hiking, stuff like that and spending time with my friends and
family.

ASL: What are you involved with here at school?

JB: I am in band, I am Vice President of JSA which is a youth activism club, I am a Latin officer
for Latin club, I used to be in cheer and then I quit. That’s basically it, just a couple other random
clubs but those are the main ones.

ASL: How do you balance all of that? Cause it’s a lot.

JB: Well honestly just skipping meetings every once in a while, but that’s not the recommended
way. I don’t know, a lot of band kids are in Latin club so it’s not that bad and I’m really good
friends with all the teachers who run the clubs so I get to do stuff for it on my own time
whenever I have the chance and not scheduled times.

ASL: How do you like being Vice President of JSA and being a Latin officer?

JB: It’s cool because I’m on a leadership position for band, I’m a librarian but I get to do actual
leadership stuff outside band which is cool because it’s just a very different view point and I also
get to revamp the clubs the way that I think that they should be run which is cool. That’s what
we’re doing with JSA.

ASL: Do you see yourself using your outside of band leadership knowledge to become a
different type of leader in band or would you just stick to being a librarian?

JB: Yes. I would. I think especially with JSA it gives me a different perspective on what the band
kids do because there are a lot of people who don’t really understand what leadership is, and
honestly no one does, but I think a lot of people have this mindset of ‘oh I got in this position,
this must mean I’m good so I don’t need to keep trying’ type thing and I don’t think that’s a
mindset we should be comfortable with. So I think it’s cool to learn and see different viewpoints
all the time.

ASL: You were kind of talking about revamping the JSA club, do you see that happening with
the Latin Club or anything else you’re involved with? Trying to get yourself in there and change
things how you think they should be changed?

JB: I don’t really think Latin club needs to be, you should always be trying to improve whatever
you’re doing but honestly Latin club is in a very good position where it is right now.
ASL: What exactly do you do in Latin club?

JB: Basically it’s like how a UIL team works like for academics. You do to different competitions,
so you start out with area which we’re actually hosting this year and so many different areas
come here for this big convention and we take all these academic tests, do all these different
categories, we have a vocal ensemble category, it’s just everything. And then if you make a one
or two you advance to state without having to pay your way and then depending on how you do
at state you can make nationals if you go that far and it’s a really, really big deal. It’s very fun.

ASL: Have you gotten to go to state or anything for Latin Club?

JB: I got to go to area and then I advanced to state and we made it to nationals but I couldn’t go
because I had band. That was when summer band was starting and I didn’t want to miss a week
of that because it’s grand nats year.

ASL: Being in all these clubs and band, would you say that being involved in so much has
helped you with life skills?

JB: One hundred percent. There’s no doubt in my head doing everything all at once has
definitely shaped me. I didn’t really know how to handle everything freshman year because
that’s when I was in band and cheer at the same time so I would be so stressed out I’d stress
bake the night before and show up with like 2 dozen boxes of cookies. That’s not a very healthy
way to manage stress. The best part was that I didn't even eat any of them, I just got very de-
stressed by baking so I would just bring them the next day. It was very entertaining. It’s
definitely helped me learn how to ‘life’ if that makes sense. I think it’s definitely going to help me
as I go to college and start my own career, just being able to be busy and not be overwhelmed
by everything.

ASL: Talking about the cookies, you’re gluten free right?

JB: Yes

ASL: Is it difficult being gluten free?

JB: It can be, the only thing that’s really difficult is going out to eat places because a lot of
things have gluten. Also my dad is a nutritionist, among many of his other jobs that he does, he
has like 20,000 jobs just for fun. We don’t all do a keto diet, but we all do low-carb, no extra
sugar diet so doing gluten free at my house is not hard because we don’t eat carbs, but just
going out to eat is a bit rough.

ASL: Have You been gluten free your entire life or did you find out at a certain point?
JB: I’m not celiac but I have gluten intolerance, so basically if I have gluten, like I ingest it, then
I’ll get really bad eczema and skin problems. I’ve always had eczema since I was a little kid so
we always thought it was normal or I just had it. It wasn’t like, ‘oh it’s caused because of that,’ so
we just found out recently.

ASL: Has it had giant impacts on your day to day diet or has it always been low-carb?

JB: That didn't really start until going into sophomore year. That’s when my dad really got into
nutrition and he realized what this was doing and that we needed to change how we were
eating. I’ve generally eaten good things but switching to gluten free has made me eat actual
healthy things constantly. I still have my occasional halo top ice cream.

ASL: You were talking about your dad and how he has a bunch of different jobs. Could you
elaborate on that?

JB: So my dad out of high school got a full ride scholarship to TCU and it was a music
scholarship because he was going to be a band director. He graduated from TCU with a degree
in music education and he became a band director. He’s always been a very smart person and
he just knows a lot of history so he took history certification tests for fun so know he’s certified to
teach kindergarten through twelfth grade history. Then after he became a band director he
realized he didn't want to do that anymore then he stopped being a band director, learned how
to daytrade and worked with the economy. He does that, he also has a finance investment
business, he is now a part time nutritionist, he umpires, he’s the head umpire for the Carrollton
farmers branch district, he also used to teach computer classes at college levels, and I recently
found out he did jobs for the government. Apparently he did jobs connected to the NSA so that’s
wild. Just things like that. We’re not exactly sure what my dad does, I think he's an undercover
CIA operative but he can't tell me if he is so we're going to keep thinking that.

ASL: Do you think your dad being so heavily involved with so many things has influenced you to
be involved in so many activities?

JB: Definitely. Both me and my sister were involved in everything because I’ve always done
band, choir and cheer and all my other clubs and she did band, choir and theater and all of her
other clubs.

ASL: Since your dad was a band director did that have any influence on you and your sister
doing band?

JB: It probably had an influence, all of my dads family members are involved in band so it's just
always been around us so it was kind of like, ‘oh, were supposed to do band.’