Ms. O’Leary remembers Jaden’s “trademark half-smile” in her class. Photo provided by Lora Morgenstern.
As far as the news goes, a story is only as important as the next one. How relative a story is depends on the next big story threatening to go viral. However, those who deliver the news are different. While the stories change, the writers remain the same. After all, only they understand the sense of urgency, the need to be trusted by one’s readers, and flawless collaboration that needs to exist in the newsroom. They stake their ground and prepare to tell their stories, provide insight to their readers, and eventually become as recognizable as the news outlets they work for. One writer who exemplified these ideas was our very own Pilot staff member, Jaden Qayyum, who tragically passed away this December.
As a member of the school newspaper for the first three years of his high school career, Jaden became one of the Pilot’s most engaged and reliable writers. His love of film and television transcended the articles he wrote, as it became clear he wrote not only out of a passion for the material he covered, but also out of a desire to connect with readers who shared a love for the Marvel, DC, and Star Wars universes.
Unfortunately, as the faculty advisor to The Pilot from 2018 to 2022, most of my interactions with him occurred over Google Meets throughout most of the Covid pandemic. He would show up online as an avatar named “Silver Claw.” As our
newspaper meetings ended, he would hang around to ask me about an idea for his next article. One day, I suggested he write about something other than television and films, hoping he would expand his horizons. He said he understood and would get back to me in a few days.
When he did, I saw he had written about the renovation of the Alpine Theater. He knew what I wanted from him, and was willing to meet me halfway. When I read the article, it made me appreciate and love him even more. Jaden’s love of film, television, and comics suggested his appreciation for the way separate stories come together to create magical universes–where anything and everything is possible. That’s probably why he loved Fort Hamilton, and why Fort Hamilton loved him back. In The Fort, he saw strangers from different places, with a myriad of backstories, converge as one. Perhaps we don’t match up to The Avengers. But as Tigers, we are pretty darn formidable. And formidable was how I saw Jaden.
I was honored to be asked by him to write his college letter of recommendation. In it, I wrote, “Jaden doesn’t seek out rewards or recognition. He simply does things to be part of something greater than himself.” There’s a very good chance he’d blush at the thought of my writing this article. Regardless, I’m saddened he won’t get to open his college acceptance letters and that I won’t get to take a picture with him at graduation.
I’m sorry I didn’t get to tell him all the things I’ve whispered to him since the news of his death. However, I am comforted by the way our school responded to his passing, the stories shared with me by those who knew him best, and the feeling that a part of him will remain here for always.
Few people, outside of his family, got to know Jaden as well as his best friend, fellow senior Brandon Rumola. “I knew Jaden since I was five. Simply said, he was the most amazing person I ever met. I think what most people don’t realize is that when you lose a best friend, you’re losing that person you told everything to and laughed at everything with. You’re losing the person who made your boring days better. I believe, out of everyone I met, Jaden accomplished the most personal growth I have ever seen. I didn’t see him only as a best friend–but also as an inspiration. If you had a chance to meet him, you would understand why I say he’s one of the sweetest people ever. He was always loving, always smiling.” said Rumola.
That sentiment was seconded by Melissa O’Leary, Jaden’s senior year English teacher, who said, “There are always memorable students you take away with you each teaching year. I knew in September that Jaden would be one of those students. What I will remember most about him is the trademark half-smile he would offer–never the full smile, only the half. That was his thing. He was adored by his classmates and is thought of and missed each day. I hope he knows that when his name comes up, it is met with only full smiles, even amidst the tears.”
Good writers know not to become so entwined with the subject of the story, such that emotions get in the way of one’s objectivity. However, when it comes to Jaden, all decorum gets thrown out the window. He was a kind, hardworking, and thoughtful young man—one I was privileged to work with. Jaden Qayyum was taken from us too soon, but his spirit and memory live on in every story he told, and every life he touched.
“”We do not have to rely on memories to recapture the spirit of those we have loved and lost – they live within our souls in some perfect sanctuary which even death cannot destroy.” – Nat Witcomb
