蘑菇短视频

Jake Trout has always been fascinated with the way things work. From before he could even remember, Trout was taking his toys apart and putting them back together. Today, he鈥檚 handling much bigger toys.

Trout is a car enthusiast and bought his first project car, a 1982 Datsun 280ZX, for just three figures. It鈥檚 no hot rod; it still needs a fuel pump, and Trout has yet to drive it, but Datsuns are worth a lot more to him than the money he paid for it.

His late dad had one.

鈥淓very time I get in the car, it's just like there's a little piece of him just sitting in the passenger seat for me,鈥� Trout said. 鈥淭hat means a lot to me, and while it's not running yet, I know that first drive's gonna feel really special, and I'm excited for it.鈥�

Trout has dreams to feed that passion of building as an automotive design engineer, and the freshman is well on his way there as a mechanical engineering major at Western Carolina University.

Since he started unscrewing gadgets and taking apart gizmos, Trout鈥檚 dad, Chris, was his biggest supporter. One of the first toys Trout remembers his dad giving him was a littleBits kit, an open-source library of magnetic, snap-together electronic building blocks.

Trout made buzzers, games and other contraptions all while his dad watched him. His dad would ask questions. Trout would explain. 

Chris was a bit of a tinkerer himself, too, working once as an airframe and powerplant mechanic and essentially living in the garage as a car buff. Chris passed away in 2020, but his passion lives on through his son.

鈥淗e never spoke much about cars to me, but he was into them, I found out. He owned a ton of different cars,鈥� Trout said. 鈥淭he interest kind of just came after I saw that he had the vehicle, and then getting into them myself, I realized I enjoy this.鈥�

Like his love for building things, Trout鈥檚 decision to come to 蘑菇短视频 just came naturally. 

The Pfafftown native has always been a big mountain guy, and when he visited Cullowhee, he saw that the College of Engineering was very job focused, as opposed to the concentration on research at other universities.

鈥淚 chose Western mainly because I love the area, and all the surrounding visuals. I love the mountains,鈥� Trout said. 鈥淚 went to App State, and I went to NC State, but then when I came here, it was just, this is where I want to be.鈥�

And like all of the parts that make a car run, it's all of the financial aid measures like Catamount Commitment that have made Trout鈥檚 education at 蘑菇短视频 possible. 

Catamount Commitment is 蘑菇短视频鈥檚 signature financial aid scholarship program that reduces financial barriers and expands opportunities for success. Campaigns like those are why 52% of the Class of 2025 graduated debt free and so will many more students in the years to come.

鈥淚t never crossed my mind that generous donors have the option to help pay for students' tuition,鈥� Trout said.

鈥�(Donors) are the reason I receive and get help for my tuition. (They) are also the reason some kid going to 蘑菇短视频 20 years down the line will also receive aid. I want to do what (they) are doing for me, and I hope it becomes a chain reaction.鈥�

With Catamount Commitment, Trout is just that much closer to walking across the stage at commencement, working cars like his '82 Datsun as a design engineer and helping put students through college 鈥� just as donors today are helping him achieve his goals.

鈥淲hile Western is a very cost-effective school, it's still a lot of money, so to receive financial assistance, it meant a lot to me,鈥� Trout said. 鈥淪eeing that amount of money, it was like, 鈥楬ey, this is for you, this is for your school.鈥� I was shocked to say the least. I was very grateful.鈥�

You can make dreams like Trout鈥檚 reality by giving to Catamount Commitment at and participating in GivingTuesday on Dec. 1.