Jack of all trades: Jett Steele

Jace Opel, Managing Editor|March 8, 2023

Before you ask, “Hey Siri, what is a “Jett of all trades?” You should know the answer can be found right here, strolling within the halls and sitting in the classrooms of Missouri Southern.

Freshman Jett Steele is literally the definition of “multifaceted” and “Jack of all trades.” The undeclared major has various interests ranging from learning about history to even programming language.

“The problem with me is that I’m too much of a Jack of all trades,” Steele said. “I enjoy history and economics, but I enjoy the mix of the two, more or less; when it comes to political philosophy, I really enjoy that too.”

With all of these talents and interests brewing in the magical city of Jett Steele’s brain, he thinks he can use some of those brain powers to develop an interest in a major that could help him combine all of his interests, in order for him to enjoy doing something he loves.

“I think [majoring in] Communications is a possibility because it is one that I could blend all of my interests and that I could actually have a use for,” he said.

While the freshman plays offensive line for MSSU’s football team, he jokes that it’s so much fun getting the honor of running into others on the field and having them run into them…literally.

“I enjoy hitting my head against the defensive 24/7,” Steele said.

While there might be several Jack (and Jill) of all trades on campus, Steele has one venture that makes his roar a little louder than the other lions. But why does this make him stand out from the others and what exactly is this said venture?

Pick-ups.

This is a phrase Steele knows all too well, but to the average college student, most do not.

When Steele isn’t on campus doing school work or playing football, he works at Parker Mortuary, where he serves as an undertaker.

“If someone passes away, it’s my job to go pick them up,” Steele said.

The job comes with a variety of responsibilities and one of the most important ones is to be in the correct mental state when following through with the job duties.

“It’s not really sad….someone has to do it, and that’s the mentality you have to have. Someone has to take care of the family and someone has to move the body of the person who is recently deceased,” Steele said. “For me, it’s not too difficult to deal with, but there was one [pickup] that was pretty bad for me.”

Last year on All Hallows’ Eve, October 31, there was a muddle of an incident that sparked something unsettling inside of him that is still resonating with him to this day.

“It’s the worst [pick-up] I ever had and it was also my very first one I had done,” said Steele.

While this is not the typical job for a college student, Steele likes it because he is able to balance school, football and work, all at a healthy pace, while learning different lessons from each one. According to Steele, he learns by executing the duties of his position at Parker Mortuary; especially the standards in communication.

“It takes a lot of interpersonal skills and being able to read the room and situation,” Steele said. “You’re not going to be able to talk to [the people who just recently had a loss], so the best you can do is let them vent. Anytime you speak more than you are supposed to, if that person is in an emotional state, they are going to latch on every little thing you may say by accident or you say it and they interpret differently and it’ll just make it worse. So I’ve had to be very selective in the way I do my job.”

When I asked Steele what a day would look like for him without school, football, or work, his response was shocking (but not really because by this point I was just expecting him to say he could contact aliens…because if anyone could do it, it could be him).

“It depends on how I feel because I have so many interests…I could be learning anything like programming language- but whenever I do things actively, I tend to listen to a variety of podcasts,” Steele said.

Being multifaceted has its perks and for this “Jett of all trades,” it might just shape his college career.