For the first time, 22-year-old senior civil engineering major Jarrett Lane was on the verge of breaking out of his familiar surroundings and continuing his extremely promising life. Becoming a civil engineering major at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg was certainly a huge accomplishment, but being less than an hour's drive away from home in the small town of Narrows, Va., it still wasn't quite venturing out into the great unknown.
Huge accomplishments are what marked Lane's life, beginning with his domination of both academics and athletics during his high school career. The small town of Narrows is one where everyone knows their neighbor's business, and at Narrows High School, everyone knew Jarrett Lane.
"He was the kind of guy that, once you met him, he was like part of your family - the whole town knew him," David Dent, an internship supervisor of Lane's as well as a family friend, told The Roanoke Times. "He was always the guy that the other ones looked up to."
Lane was extremely passionate about sports, and lettered in four varsity sports during his high school career. He put his whole heart into football, basketball, track and tennis.
But for Lane, that wasn't enough. Being naturally competitive, he was never one to shy away from a challenge. He put more of his seemingly endless energy into his academics, and graduated as the valedictorian of his high school class. His success at Narrows meant he could finally continue on to pursue his dream — attending college at Virginia Tech.
"He had so much pride in Virginia Tech, he loved being here," said junior marketing major Amanda Bishop, who was close friends with Lane ever since they had a class together her freshman year. "He had a lot of pride in everything he did, because he put so much effort into it. He was so hard working."
Bishop remembers how they clicked through their shared love of sports and competition. "We played just for fun, and we also played intramural sports together the beginning of this (spring) semester," she said. "My freshman year we had a class together, and we used to play horse after class every day. We were so competitive, but I'd always beat him. One time he beat me in horse, and we didn't play again for like a year."
Through all his sporting pursuits, Lane remained steadfastly dedicated to his academics. As an engineering major, he had a full and intense course load, and had even begun an internship with Virginia Tech's Site and Infrastructure Development the spring of his junior year, where he hoped to begin using his engineering skills to help improve the quality of life for others.
"He was very confident in himself and the things he did" said Bishop, "but was still always so fun-loving and full of spirit."
By his senior year at Tech, he was already taking graduate-level courses, and begun looking at engineering graduate programs throughout the country. His stellar resume landed him prestigious offers from all around the country, and Lane had recently chosen the University of Florida for his graduate studies.
"Over spring break he went down (to Florida) for a few days, and he met some of the students that were in the grad school there... and he loved it down there, loved the weather and loved the school," Bishop says. "I talked to him the weekend before he left, and he asked if I wanted to go down there with him. He planned to go apartment shopping the last weekend in May."
It didn't hurt that Lane was also offered a full scholarship and graduate assistantship to attend Florida.
Lane worked impossibly hard his entire life to achieve all that he had, while still managing to find time for friends, sports, and even his strong Christian faith.
Many friends and mentors recall Lane's strong faith, with a friend posting on his Facebook page, "It was a privilege to have known you. You were such a great guy and I have many fond memories of which I will never forget! From going out as a group to eat before the high school dances to goofing off at track practice and many more. You were a very great athlete, student and great Christian example showing others that you could do anything with Christ."
