What is your first U of A memory?
Around the time high-school ended (year redacted lol), my friends and I would attend Golden Bears’ hockey games, sitting in the second row behind the visiting teams’ bench in Clare Drake arena. The same group of guys always sat in front of us, harassing the opposition verbally and by tapping pennies on the glass. We were well-behaved, but not unscathed as players would sometimes squirt water or swing sticks over the glass, aiming at those pesky troublemakers.
What’s something your coworkers don’t know about you?
I once used Pope John-Paul II’s washroom.
What’s your favourite distraction?
I’m captain of a hockey team in the U of A intramural league (we’re recruiting FYI), but my true love is baseball. For me it’s a place that’s apart from the world, a pasttime and escape. It reminds me of summers with friends, Mom taking me to see Field of Dreams (I still cry at the end, every time), playing catch with Dad and now sharing it with my own children.
I played competitively into college and still play now for love of the game (we could use another pitcher, hit me up!). I cannot imagine a time when it won’t be a part of my life. The greatest gift of the game is that every team gets their fair chance, free of a ticking clock, which is so unlike the rest of life. How could one not be romantic about baseball?
If you were enrolling in one course, program or degree right now, what would it be?
Like most kids, I grew up in awe of dinosaurs and have always wanted to be a paleontologist (and to someday meet the science-hall-of-famer Dr. Phil Currie). If I could pick two, the other would be the MACT program to explore how technology is transforming how we communicate as a species, for good or ill.
You can invite anyone — alive or dead, real or fictional — to dinner. Who would it be?
I would like to think that I’d select ancestors I’ve never met, like my grandfathers, favourite fictional characters or figures from history, but I know that it would have to be my father and my brother who’ve both passed on. I don’t think we’d enjoy much dinner though as I wouldn’t let them out of my arms again.
If you could see any live performance tomorrow, what would it be?
Continuing a trend, I would love to travel through time to see a classic ballgame. Maybe to ‘32 to see the Bambino call his shot, ‘47 to see Jackie Robinson (and to counter some boos with cheers) or to celebrate Joe Carter’s homer in ‘93.
What advice would you give your 18-year-old self?
Get out of your own way, put in the effort, love the people around you and trust that you’re worth it too. Also, buy Bitcoin early. Lots of it.
What’s one thing you can’t live without?
My lovely wife Chelsea and our children, Nova and Finn. They’re all of what holds me to this world — I’d be lost without them.
What three words describe your U of A experience?
Opportunity, gratitude, home.
Do you have any upcoming projects or initiatives you are looking forward to at work?
Continuing our teams’ work of improving the online experience for our communities: removing barriers for those seeking a higher education and enhancing the greater ability to share the awe-inspiring research, discovery and teaching triumphs of faculty and staff.
About Jordan
Jordan Carson is a senior content strategist with the External Relations Digital + Creative team. He studied visual communication at MacEwan and has worked in an array of design, web and communication roles in the years since.
Jordan joined the U of A in 2012 where he spent his first six years on campus with Residence Services and Facilities & Operations. He then enjoyed the three years following with the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry communications team and in 2021, joined the External Relations Digital + Creative team. Jordan also works as an illustrator and has used those skills on-campus in support of initiatives like editorial illustration and the celebration of Canada 150. Off campus, he has been a board member of Metro Cinema for whom he still volunteers, is an avid athlete, a husband and father of two.