Adrian NorthrupNo matter when people ask junior Jason Windsor how he is, they always get the same response: “Always outstanding.”
That’s because Windsor, 36, loves his hectic but rewarding life.
He is not only a full-time dad to Annie, 9, and Emily, 7, but he also started his own Girl Scout troop for his daughters, created several projects for the economics department, is going to graduate in three and a half years, works part-time at Blockbuster Video, 967 W. Clairemont Ave., and is on the PTA. To top all of that off, he is the fundraising chair for the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta.
“I love volunteering more than working with corporate America, and (being in school) gives me the flexibility to do all that,” he said.
School days
When Windsor became a single parent in 2002 he said he realized that he would not be able to put in the hours that his job at Dynamic Stampings Inc., a metal manufacturer, needed.
“I devote more time to my daughters – they are more important to me,” he said. “So I really thought it was the best interest for everybody to say ‘Let’s just pack up, sell the house and go to school. We’re all going to school.’ ”
So in the 2004 fall semester Windsor and his daughters left their home in Hartland, and he enrolled as an economics major at UW-Eau Claire, where he attends year-round.
Being a full-time dad and full-time student equals very little shut-eye, he said.
“Until last semester, I normally got two hours of sleep a night,” Windsor said. “That was very typical of me.”
The girls would usually go to sleep around 8 p.m. but by the time they actually fell asleep it would be 10 p.m. Windsor said he probably wouldn’t complete his homework until 3 a.m.
“Then you can’t just shut it off and go to sleep . you have to get up at 6 in the morning to start your whole day over again,” he said.
But Windsor never complains.
“You just get it done. It’s kind of like if you have to drive from New York to San Francisco,” he said. “You can complain all you want but you just do it.”
Recently, though, Windsor started getting a few more hours of sleep each night, racking the grand total up to four or five.
“It’s double!” he said with a laugh. “That’s a 100 percent improvement!”
An investing addict
Windsor did investing as a hobby for 17 years, and once on the campus, he became involved with creating economics projects.
“I’m addicted to the financial markets,” he said.
When Eric Jamelski, assistant professor of economics, sent an e-mail to the majors about an investing project, Windsor was quick to reply.
The two worked on a stock index project together called the Chippewa Valley Research and Development project, which provides local and regional economic data to the community.
“He was a natural fit,” Jamelski said. “He was using his practical knowledge and expertise to guide the project.”
But stocks aren’t the only thing that interests Windsor. He’s picked up other areas of investing and is currently working on a project about currencies, which he says is “really wicked.”
Through working with Windsor closely, Jamelski said he respects Windsor’s dedication to his school work and family. He said he knows first-hand how difficult it is to sort out when to juggle everything and thinks that Windsor is doing a great job raising his kids.
“My kids have babysat (Windsor’s) kids before, and they seem like good-natured, good, happy kids,” Jamelski said. “Raising kids is a tough business.”
Windsor is always smiling when he speaks of his daughters, and he said that he is “very proud” of them.
And it is evident in the way his daughters talk about him that they have a lot of fun together.
“Sometimes he makes funny jokes,” Emily Windsor said while thinking about one of the jokes and laughing.
Fraternity life
Starting a new school is always a scary thing. So, Windsor said he decided to join The Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta to meet people.
This is his second semester and he holds the title of fundraising chair, which involves attending weekly meetings and organizing all the fundraising events.
Senior fraternity member Chase Brakke, the treasurer, is impressed with how Windsor, or “Blue” as he is more commonly known as at the FIJI house, can juggle everything.
“He’s a really good guy,” Brakke, a senior, said. “Meeting his daughters was cool to see that he’s capable of being a parent and part of an organization while in college.”
The fraternity members even helped Windsor with a PTA project.
The PTA bought new playground equipment for his kid’s school and the boys of FIJI house helped put it together as part of a service project.
From fraternity to Girl Scouts
When Windsor is not found at the Economics department, FIJI House or at a PTA meeting, check at the local Girl Scout meetings, where the troop that he started gets together to do volunteer projects, something that his daughters look forward to.
“I think that’s really awesome because we get to see him a lot,” said Annie Windsor on her dad’s position as troop leader. “He’s kind of busy ,but he at least gets to see us.”
Windsor tried getting the girls into Girl Scouts a few years back but there weren’t any troops for them, so he said that he would make his own troop.
Windsor got his troop going and eventually, he was appointed to be the organizer, who recruits all the girls and leaders. He is at all the meetings and plans all the activities on his own, some of which include making paper chains to show they are all linked and dumping recyclables in the gym and telling the kids to use their imaginations to create something.
He also takes his troop on field trips to the Children’s Museum so they can figure out what occupation they may want to be interested in, to the senior citizen’s home to play BINGO, and they collect food for the local food pantry.
“It was a nice companion-type thing plus they got to help them out,” Windsor said.
“The girls are really interested in it and they get a lot out of it,” he said.
In his spare time …
And as if he doesn’t have a full plate already, Windsor also works five to 12 hours per week at Blockbuster.
Being a veteran of the Air Force, where he served in Desert Storm in the early 1990’s, he uses his veteran benefits.
His co-worker, Kendall Smith, said Windsor’s bubbly attitude is great to work with.
“He’s always really friendly and upbeat when he comes to work. I’ve never seen him in a bad mood,” Smith said, adding that he always brings treats for everyone. “We all like him here at work, and he’s really friendly to his customers, too.”
Being involved with all of these activities could be too much for some to handle but not for Windsor. No matter what comes his way, he’s always there with a smile on his face and saying that, as usual, he’s “always outstanding.”
