Family, ‘brothers’ reflect after loss of IU student

Jarrod Polston, an IU freshman, was an All-American boy. He played football and baseball, was nearly a straight-A student and planned on being a biochemist.

Jarrod Polston, who was pronounced dead at Ball State University on Saturday, was affectionately known as “J” by his friends. J had a close-knit group of friends who identified themselves as brothers.

J and Patrick Mennel, a freshman at the University of Kentucky, said he and J played football together since 2nd grade and had been best friends ever since. This summer they were nearlyinseparable before they went off to college.

At the end of their senior year, Mennel went to J’s house to reminisce about their high school years.

As they were watching a senior year video, there was a moment where it zoomed in on the “brothers’” faces as they were holding each other.

J turned to Mennel and said, “I’ll love you forever man, you know that.”

“J most definitely was warm-hearted,” Mennel said. “He would do anything for anyone. He was my boy.”

Greg Harrison, a freshman at Ball State University, said he knew J for about four years but did not become close with him until their sophomore year of high school.

One night three years ago Harrison gave J a call at 3 a.m. because his car
wasn’t starting.

“Even if you were not so close to him, he would help you no matter what,” Harrison said.

Though J had an active social life, it never got in the way of his academics.

“Everything came easy to him,” Carl Polston, J’s father, said. “He had a 3.999 GPA. His study habits were not what they should be, but there was not a whole lot I could say. He was a good student.”

His school smarts got him recognized as a young child by his elementary school teachers.

On two occasions he was asked to move up one to two grade levels, but he declined both offers because he wanted to be with his friends.

J also learned sports naturally. He enjoyed playing football and baseball the most.
Carl Polston said that J never complained. In fact, J once played in a baseball tournament with a broken foot.

He had a personality and smile that made strangers take notice instantly, Carl
Polston said.

“He made such a great lasting impression,” Carl Polston said. “He could warm you up with one little smile.”

Although J rarely received punishment from his father, Carl Polston had trouble reprimanding J even when he needed to.

“Being his father, all he had to give me was one little smile and I couldn’t do it,” Carl Polston said.

J was a role model to his 17-year-old and 6-year-old sisters and his 8-year-old brother, his father said.

“They worshipped the ground he walked on,” Carl Polston said.

His friends and father said he was the type of person who everyone gravitated to because of his honesty and willingness to help others.

“If you ever met him you would never forget him,” Carl Polston said.