Great Grads 2026: Jayden Petrus

From Dublin to Destiny: How Faith, Love, and Resilience Made Jayden Petrus JCSU's Class of 2026 Valedictorian

By: Brandon Jones

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When Jayden Petrus showed up to meet the JCSU football team for the first time, he was wearing Tommy Hilfiger linen shorts, a matching shirt, and Birkenstocks. His teammates took one look at the kid from Dublin, California and gave him a nickname that would follow him across campus: Cali.

Nobody called him Valedictorian. Not yet.

Four years later, the Information Systems Engineering graduate from the Class of 2026 stands at the top of his class at Johnson C. Smith University — Charlotte's only HBCU — having earned one of the most coveted academic distinctions a college student can receive. And the way he found out? It's a story that even he couldn't have written.

The Email That Changed Everything

Twenty minutes before receiving the official notification that he had been named Valedictorian, Jayden was on the phone with his mother, Jade Petrus. She asked him to share some good news. In a lighthearted moment, he said, "I'm the valedictorian!" — and quickly took it back, laughing it off. "I thought I could've won it, but maybe I didn't do enough," he told her.

Then his phone buzzed.

"I was absolutely astonished," Jayden recalled. "I immediately called my mom back to tell her the crazy news."

It was the kind of full-circle moment that defines not just an academic achievement, but an entire journey — one that began 2,700 miles away in Dublin, California, wound through 60 college visits, and ended with a random email in his mother's inbox that would change the course of his life.

Stumbling Into Greatness

Jayden's path to JCSU was anything but conventional. After visiting more than 60 colleges across the South with his family, the Petruses almost missed JCSU entirely. It was an email — found almost by accident — that put the university on their radar. After a campus visit, something clicked.

"We came to visit the school and loved it, along with the prospect of getting to play football at a D2 level," Jayden said.

He arrived with ambitions on and off the field, but the first two weeks at JCSU would test him in ways he never anticipated.

"My life became the toughest it had ever been in my first two weeks at JCSU," he said. "I left all my family and friends, didn't have any in Charlotte, and football — the one thing I thought defined me — wasn't going well. I was at rock-bottom and depressed."

In that season of darkness, Jayden says he encountered something that would radically reshape his life.

"In that time, I had encountered Christ and my life began to radically change. Bad habits and lifestyles began to fade and the way I carried myself completely changed. Honestly, if it wasn't for Jesus, I would probably not be alive and definitely not in this position as Valedictorian. So I will always thank God for what He has done."

Iron Sharpening Iron

If faith was Jayden's anchor, love was his accelerant.

Living a floor below him in the Honors Dormitory during his first weeks on campus, Eryn Glover would become his best friend, his academic partner, and eventually — his wife.

"It was like iron sharpening iron as we propelled each other forward," Jayden said. "Whether it was participating in and winning multiple pitch competitions or joining organizations that allowed us to travel around the world — like going to the Netherlands — she was the closest person to me all throughout college."

The two married before graduation, making Eryn Petrus one of the most meaningful parts of the JCSU story Jayden will carry with him forever.

A Major Built on Curiosity

Ask Jayden about his hobbies and brace yourself: language learning, sailing, Muay Thai, working out, anime, video games, making music, and coding. It is, by his own admission, way too many hobbies for any one person.

But that restless curiosity — the same energy that led him to build his own PCs in middle school — eventually pointed him toward Information Systems Engineering. He had originally planned to pursue neurosurgery all through grade school, but made a pivot right before college.

"I knew the software engineering route would work better for me because I'm an analytical thinker," he explained. "I had worked with computers and built my own PCs in middle and high school, so it was actually fun for me."

That curiosity, he says, became one of his greatest academic assets.

"Because of all these hobbies, I've always found ways to jump into new things, learn them quickly, and move onto the next thing — which has actually helped me in a lot of different environments."

The Honors Program: A Grace-Filled Turning Point

One of the defining moments of Jayden's JCSU journey came when he was accepted into the university's prestigious Honors Program, which covered his full tuition.

"Joining the Honors Program was life-changing for me," he said. "In high school, I literally hadn't gotten anything less than an A, and I took the risk that I could possibly get money academically or athletically when coming to JCSU. When I got here and received nothing for it initially, it was extremely disappointing. But by the grace of God, He allowed me to get accepted into the Honors Program and instantly it was as if all of my mother's sacrifices and my hard work had paid off."

That moment became the foundation on which the rest of his academic career was built — one not driven by perfection or external validation, but by a deeper sense of purpose.

"My motivation from the get-go was to do everything with excellence and not perfection, not to prove something to anyone, but to glorify God in it," he said, referencing the scripture that kept him grounded through every difficult season: "Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people." — Colossians 3:23-24

A Mother's Sacrifice

Behind every great achievement is someone who made it possible. For Jayden, that person is his mother, Jade Petrus.

A nurse who worked multiple jobs throughout Jayden's childhood to provide for him and his two siblings — older sister Chynna and younger brother Jayce — Jade never missed a sporting event, a school moment, or an opportunity to show up for her children, even when the hours were long and the road was hard.

"My mom was willing to pay whatever the cost to make sure that I was set up for success," Jayden said. "I praise God for my mother and her dedication to me and my siblings."

He thought of her the moment that valedictorian email arrived. And the moment he called her back to share the news — after the joke, after the doubt, after the grace — is a moment neither of them will ever forget.

What's Next

Jayden Petrus graduated and has already begun his next chapter, joining Bank of America as a Software Engineer in Charlotte. But his vision extends far beyond corporate America.

"Down the road, I am hoping to go back to school to pursue a Master of Divinity at a seminary," he shared. "I desire to become a pastor or missionary. I desire to one day go to the nations and share the same gospel that saved my life."

It is a vision as bold as the journey that brought him here — from a random email in his mother's inbox, to 60 college tours, to a pair of Birkenstocks on a football field, to the top of his graduating class.

His Message to Incoming Golden Bulls

For the students arriving at JCSU this fall, Jayden has a simple message:

"Be curious and take advantage of every opportunity that you can at JCSU. Coming to JCSU is like a gold mine of opportunity if you are willing to put in the work. I encourage freshmen to just get after it and hustle when they come in."

And when asked what JCSU ultimately taught him, the answer came without hesitation:

"Johnson C. Smith University taught me resilience."