James Bond, Michael Jackson and Jenny Jones are enrolled at USU
Sitting in class at the beginning of the semester, some students may have been surprised as the professor called role. Since when was James Bond a USU student? And Michael Jackson is studying accounting?
But to Bond, a sophomore majoring in food science, his name is just a family name, although it’s a name he’s spent his life explaining.
“I was named after my great-grandfather, who passed away a few years before I was born,” he said. “My parents knew people would tease me, but I’ve just learned to deal with it and have fun with it.
“Teachers will go down the role and do a double-take. I made reservations once, and they didn’t believe it was my name. But I like it, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Michael Douglas, a sophomore business major, said his name doesn’t get recognized much by his peers.
“He’s not really big with college-aged kids, so I get it a lot more from older people,” he said. “Every teacher has been like ‘Michael Douglas … oh, are you an actor? Hahaha.'”
Richard Hatch, who graduated in physics last May, said people started connecting him with the winner of “Survivor: Africa” toward the end of the season.
“Right after he won, I got some comments about it, but it’s dies down now,” he said. “My boss at USU cut out a newspaper article and highlighted my name in it. He thought it was pretty funny.
“This fall, I was in the physics department at graduate school, and I overheard some students talking about how Richard Hatch was going to school there. So I went over and introduced myself.”
Michael Jackson, a junior studying accounting, said he gets teased about his name all the time, but he doesn’t really mind.
“I get mocked a lot, but I don’t really care. It doesn’t bother me now,” he said. “The good thing about it is people remember my name.”
Jenny Jones, a senior majoring in family and human development, said she gets teased about her name all the time. But she married into it, so she’s only been dealing with it for about a year.
“People in stores will be like ‘Jenny Jones, well, you’re famous,'” she said. “One woman at Wal-Mart laughed so hard at my name that she couldn’t even talk for a long time.
“Once I had to call the police, and I gave my maiden name so they wouldn’t think it was a prank call.”
Pamela Anderson, who studied elementary education at USU from 1977 to 1979, said people are often surprised by her name.
“When I hand them my driver’s license, they usually do a double-take when they see my name,” she said.
Robert Frost also attended USU; he studied music education from 1960 to 1964. Like Bond, his was a family name.
“There are a lot of Roberts in my family tree,” he said. “My parents just liked the name. People still recognize the name of the poet even now that I’m getting on in years.”
Bond said the best thing about his name is that he can use it to meet people.
“When I’m meeting girls, I can say ‘My name is Bond, James Bond.’ Sometimes it’s a really good way to break the ice,” he said.