About Jay

I'm the young guy in the center

Joseph "Jay" Salus
DOB: 7/23/1989
Hometown: Chevy Chase, MD (DC area)
Education: Tulane University, class of 2012
Height: too short
Weight: too much









A lot of this was covered in my earliest posts, but for those who stumble across this blog and are interested in my background, here you go.  I was born in Washington, DC and grew up just outside DC in Montgomery Country, MD.  I am a graduate of the IB program at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School/  My parents raised me as a reform Jew, and the principal of "Tikkun Olam" greatly influence much of my early life, though not nearly as much as my love of soccer, hockey, and all things DC sports.  After graduating high school, I was torn between two universities, and decided to take a gap year to give me time to make the decision.  I left for Israel for 9 months as part of the Young Judea YearCourse program, 2007-8, where I took classes and coached youth soccer.  Upon returning, I accepted the Community Service Scholars award (and scholarship) at Tulane University, where I majored in Political Science and studied international development, while playing in the Drumline and pep band (among other activities).  I hope to attend law school when I return to the US.  However, the Peace Corps has been something I've always wanted to do.  My mother is an RPCV who served in Honduras, and I grew up with her stories, and always felt this was the best way I could help both my country and the world.   This is not my first time going overseas to help people, though.  In high school, I spent a couple weeks as part of a service project in Costa Rica, where I used my knowledge of Spanish to conduct needs assessments in suffering communities and help teach English to young children (and play soccer with them).

My interests have always included writing, which is part of the reason I started this blog, in order to keep my ability to write (and speak somewhat proper English) intact.