By: Mandy Housenick

GoLeopards.com Featured Columnist

For eight consecutive years when the school year ended in Jacksonville, Fla., Cassaundra James packed her son, Draeland James' bags and said goodbye for what would be about 10 weeks.

There was nothing easy about not seeing her son during the course of the summer. But with she and her husband working full-time and not having any family nearby to help with childcare, Cassaundra did what was best for her son - she had him spend the summer with her parents, her brother and Draeland's cousins in Virginia.

"He could have gone to a summer camp, and we would have worked it out," Cassaundra said. "But because my family was so far away, I didn't want him to grow up and not have the experience of being able to spend time with family. I also knew that if I let him go and spend the summers away from home, then when he grew up, it wouldn't be difficult for him to go away to school if that opportunity arose because he would been accustomed to having been away from home."

Good call, Cassaundra!

Draeland, a team captain for Frank Tavani's Leopards, is nearing completion of his studies at Lafayette College. To say he's done well would be an understatement.

The government and law and Anthropology & Sociology major is the owner of a 3.35 GPA. This summer he took advantage of a wonderful, full-time internship, one that might land him a job with the company after he graduates in May.

	"Not many students get the chance to experience what I've experienced." - James

"Not many students get the chance to experience what I've experienced," Draeland said.

Draeland's professors, coaches and teammates have all played huge roles in getting him ready for life after college.

This summer's internship with Cintas was hugely beneficial in getting him prepped as well. Cintas is an industry leader in supplying corporate uniform programs, entrance and logo mats, restroom supplies, promotional products, first aid, safety, fire protection products and services and provides industrial carpet and tile cleaning.

Before Draeland got too far into the process of choosing an internship last year, he spent a great deal of time researching and reading about Cintas. It didn't take him long to realize it was a very well-respected company.

"I realized they handled things the right way, from ethical issues, to the way they dressed to the way they communicated with each other and customers, and to the way they drove to sales calls," Draeland said.

So Draeland applied. He interviewed on two separate days with a total of three people, including the general manager and the regional sales manager.

"When I got there, I loved the people and their approach," he said.

Draeland dove right in. He took on as many responsibilities as his boss, Matt Ferber, a Lafayette College alum and former football player, would give him.

"It was a perfect fit," Draeland said.

So perfect that Draeland didn't mind working 40 hours a week during a time when many of his friends had just part-time jobs, which came with the freedom to take a long weekend to go to the beach.

"I wanted to get that experience," Draeland said. "I envisioned a long time ago how I wanted my schooling to go at Lafayette. I knew by the time my senior year came around I wanted to set myself up with an opportunity for a position that might turn into a job after school, and one day I realized I wanted that with Cintas."

"As I was sitting in the office typing something, I said, 'Wow this is the reason I came to Lafayette, to get this kind of opportunity, and now I'm actually living it out.' I sent Matt an email thanking him for giving me the opportunity. It was cool to be able to live out the original plan I had."

	"As I was sitting in the office typing something, I said, 'Wow, this is the reason I came to Lafayette, to get this kind of opportunity, and now I'm actually living it out.'" - James

What wasn't in Draeland's original plan was the chance to log his first sale during his internship.

One day, a full-time Cintas sales representative was on vacation and part of his territory was Easton. Ferber gave Draeland the green light to go on the sales call. On a Friday, Draeland made an appointment to stop by 10th Street Tire, an existing customer. The following Monday, Draeland gave his spiel. He must have been pretty convincing because by the end of the meeting, he had sold a first-aid cabinet. That was the eighth week of Draeland's internship. In most cases, it takes individuals 12 weeks to even get the approval to go on a sales call, nevertheless make an actual sale.

Draeland immediately called Ferber to give him the good news. Clearly, Draeland made an impact during his internship with Cintas, which already reached out to him about possible full-time employment after graduation.

He will interview with a regional business director to be a management trainee following the acceptance of his diploma. He even got the green light to bypass some of the interviews since he has already made such a good impression.

"I was really getting used to the job and the mental approach once I understood how it worked," he said. "And I liked how all the attributes of being a student-athlete were transferable to this position: I liked being in the office and being in the field and being active. It's competitive. And I liked the ability to be able to compete with other reps on my team and other reps in the region and the country."

Draeland credits his success to his parents. He admitted that when he was in elementary school, studying wasn't a priority despite his mom and dad constantly imparting on him the importance of getting good grades.

One day in sixth grade, Draeland said it simply occurred to him that his parents were right, that school was important. He declared to his parents they no longer needed to remind him about homework, studying or school projects. He had it covered.

And he did, so much so that he got a full scholarship to go to Lafayette.

As his time winds down as a Leopard, so too, will his parents' trips to see him play. Cassaundra has been to every game that her son has played in, both home and away. Tyrone, Draeland's dad, has missed just one.

"I will miss it, but it will save me in my pocketbook," Cassaundra joked. "If he is able to get a full-time job with the company he interned with, then I will come to spend time with him while he's up there (in New Jersey) as much as possible. I always told him that it doesn't make a difference where he lives, I will visit."

Unlike so many college students today, Draeland will leave Lafayette without any debt, and he knows how fortunate he is. So he wants to get a jump start on how to properly invest money now. He's already asking his mom about purchasing stock.

And just like she did when he was 10, Cassaundra is encouraging her son to go about it the right way.

"I told him the things he needs to start researching to make those investments," she said. "I told him he has to be able to explain to me what they do, what they make and then we'll decide if that's a good investment."

One investment Draeland knows that's already been a good one: Lafayette.

"It's kind of surreal," he said. "You play sports when you're younger, and you have dreams and aspirations, and you realize you aren't going to the NFL. But I know the next step is almost here, and I feel prepared to be an independent adult in the real world."