Eagles in the Spotlight

Jadon Maluia and Lamjia Coric

Maluia

Hailing from the distant land of West Jordan, Utah, Jadon Maluia made the difficult two-hour drive to move to Price, and be counted among the USU Eastern student body for another year. 

A sophomore, he is also a veteran on the Serving Utah Network (SUN) Center leadership group on campus. His involvement in the SUN Center played a crucial part in why he chose to come to Eastern. “I wasn’t really planning on coming to school, until I got the scholarship for SUN Center. That kind of just opened my eyes to that fact that I can go to school.” 

Maluia’s dream of wanting to help troubled or lost teens fueled his desire to pursue a degree in social work. 

“I just want to be able to help kids. I feel like I’ve had so many chances in my life and so many options. I just want to give even one kid the options and chances I had,”  he said.

One piece of advice he had for other students was to get out of your dorms. “Go do something with yourself. Go to activities, even if they sound boring. Last year some of my favorite memories were from going to Lite Brite, or one of [SUN Center’s] many service adventures.”

Coric

Lamjia Coric is a familiar face to returning students and avid Lady Eagles fans. A native of Sweden, Coric returned to Eastern for her sophomore year where she continues to play for the womens basketball team. She came to Eastern after receiving a basketball scholarship. “It’s something we don’t have in Sweden, so I was like yeah, I’ll come and adventure.”

Her major is pre-medicine to fulfill her dream of becoming a doctor. “I think the nervous system is interesting and the heart is as well.” Most people, when they hear that you’ve chosen medicine as your career field, assume you’re just chasing a salary, Coric says that isn’t it for her. “I just think the human body is astonishing, I just want to know how everything works.”

She eventually wants to transfer to another university with good academics as well as a good basketball team. While she hasn’t found a specific school yet, she is confident she will find one that suits her. 

Her parting words of advice to her fellow Easterners, “Hakuna Matata. Things will work out. Just have fun. Don’t think too much.”