Friends remember IU sophomore’s life

Jay Specyal, an IU sophomore, will be most missed for his sense of humor, friends said.\nSpecyal died Thursday at Bloomington Hospital.\n“My first memory (of Jay) isn’t even appropriate,” said IU sophomore Chris Myers with a grin, referring to Specyal’s openness and eagerness to have fun.\nFriends of Specyal said his personality was compelling, due to a mix of hilarity and a tendency to show-off. But wherever he was and whatever he was doing, chances were it involved some risk and some humor.\n“We’d always come up with a stupid idea,” said IU sophomore and friend Natalie Nidetz. “And he would fulfill it.”\nAt a lunch, the group of friends jokingly mentioned going roller-skating as a weekend activity. That Friday, Specyal had arranged it.\nAlthough Specyal was always willing to try new things, Myers said he was still just a “tall, awkward kid.”\nThe roller-skating affair ended with Specyal attempting to break-dance in the middle of the rink and confronting two children who were “trash-talking” him.\n“He would just roll around on the floor and try to make it look cool,” said IU sophomore and friend Anna Thomas.\nThe first time IU sophomore Kellen Herron-Scott met Specyal, she said he wasn’t interested in introductions.\n“He came into my room to hit on my roommate,” Herron said, pointing her thumb at IU sophomore Amelia Brown.\nHerron’s roommate, Brown, said he asked her to go to the bookstore and help him find his books for class. She laughed at the obviousness of the gesture, but she went to the bookstore anyway.\nFor all his quirks, Thomas said Specyal was always known for being able to “provide entertainment” with his slapstick comedy.\nSpecyal tried everything from bunking a couch in his dorm room to stealing a shopping cart he found near Ballantine Hall when wandering home from a party. Last year, a simple snowboarding trick left him with a concussion and a trip to a formal left Specyal shoeless.\n“He was a dreamer,” Herron said. “After a while, nothing was weird though – it was just Jay.”\nHis creativity and light-heartedness helped him with almost too-believable Halloween costumes, Nidetz said.\nLast Halloween, Specyal’s sorority girl costume confused at least one male partier, who was fooled by the disguise and hit on Jay.\n“Ridiculousness – that’s Jay,” Thomas said nostalgically.\nSpecyal’s creativity sometimes confused even him. \n“He was seriously one of those people in college who couldn’t figure out what he wanted to do,” Myers said, laughing. “But he had no light (when choosing majors).”\nMyers said he would change his mind on majors and career paths based on what movie he watched that week, such as aspiring to being a lobbyist after viewing “Thank You For Smoking.” He most recently changed his major to communications and culture, which Myers said would have been fine “except we saw his writing.”\nWhile Specyal didn’t always have a clear view of his future, he had only one goal for the present: to make everyone around him laugh.\n“If he couldn’t get a smile on your face, he failed,” Myers said. “But he never failed.”\nSpecyal’s wake will be held from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. today at Anthony & Dziadowicz Funeral Home in Munster, Ind. The funeral services will be Tuesday at 10 a.m. in Munster, Ind.