Mr. Jared Byrd and Mrs. Marylyn Byrd
Jared: Bachelor of Science in Finance, Class of 2007; Pursuing Master’s in Business
Mrylyn: BBA in Accounting, Class of 2008; MBA Accounting Concentration, Class of 2009
Interviewed by Vidisha Barua Worley on 10/13/2023
‘I started in Fall 2002 when I graduated high school. I was able to get a job in the Credit Union two days after graduating from Lamar. When I returned to Lamar for my Master’s degree, the first night, August 25th 2009, I met Marylyn in the International Business class. It was a very good experience. I was able to meet a lot of people and I still have a lot of contacts today from Lamar that I talk to year-by-year on a quarterly basis to know what’s going on in the community. We got married on August 25th, 2012.’ — Jared Byrd
‘I became a student at Lamar in 2005. Growing up I was familiar with Lamar University because my parents both went to school later in life. They both worked during the day and went to school at night. They were both Lamar University students. Everyone in my family except my middle brother went to Lamar. He went to Sam Houston. I was the baby. So, growing up sometimes when my parents would come to class at night, I would come with them. That’s how I got to know the campus. And when I graduated high school, I started at Lamar that Fall (2005). Lamar has really been ingrained in me my whole life. My Mom got her Master’s degree in Counseling and became a high school counselor. She also got a Master’s degree in English. She got two Master’s degrees that she got from Lamar University. My Dad was going back and doing the alternative teaching certification program to switch careers and become a high school teacher. After I graduated, I went to Lamar, met my husband there and have a beautiful family. Now, I work as the Associate Director for the Office of Internal Audit. So, I service all four of Lamar campuses. Currently, I audit all activities for Lamar University. I think Lamar is a great university. We have a unique set of students that has always fascinated me and made the college experience on campus, different and more exciting than other campuses. I think it is a great day to be a Cardinal and I hope my boys will go there some day.’
‘In my final semester of my MBA program, it was Fall of 2009, and Jared and I were in the International Business class with Dr. Alan. We met on August 25th in the hallway. We were the first ones there and we got to talking. And I don’t remember this, but my best friend, Destiny, told me that, that night after the class I called her and was telling her about meeting Jared and I supposedly said that I might marry him one day. As the semester went on, I liked him and he liked me, but it was like kind of back in high school. We didn’t realize each other did, but the whole class did. As the semester went on, the study abroad opportunity came up to go to China. He told me that he was going to go. So, I decided that I have to find a way to go. We are going to go to China to get to know each other. At some point, he decided he didn’t think he was going to be able to go. But he found out from another classmate that I was going. So, he said, oh I have to go. We were going to follow each other to another country. But at the end of the day, sadly, neither one of us went. We figured out through the process, kind of came out in a weird conversation, that’s how we found out that we liked each other. He was shy, so he never asked me out. I was tired of waiting on him. So, one night after class, I was genuinely just hungry, had come to class straight from work, and I just said, hey, do you want to go have dinner? The way he tells is that I jumped in front of him in the Galloway business building, forced him to stop, and demanded he go to dinner with me. That kind of kicked it off. We were married three years later on August 25th, around the same time that we originally met.’
‘I became a student at Lamar in 2005. Growing up I was familiar with Lamar University because my parents both went to school later in life. They both worked during the day and went to school at night. They were both Lamar University students. Everyone in my family except my middle brother went to Lamar. He went to Sam Houston. I was the baby. So, growing up sometimes when my parents would come to class at night, I would come with them. That’s how I got to know the campus. And when I graduated high school, I started at Lamar that Fall (2005). Lamar has really been ingrained in me my whole life. My Mom got her Master’s degree in Counseling and became a high school counselor. She also got a Master’s degree in English. She got two Master’s degrees that she got from Lamar University. My Dad was going back and doing the alternative teaching certification program to switch careers and become a high school teacher. After I graduated, I went to Lamar, met my husband there and have a beautiful family. Now, I work as the Associate Director for the Office of Internal Audit. So, I service all four of Lamar campuses. Currently, I audit all activities for Lamar University. I think Lamar is a great university. We have a unique set of students that has always fascinated me and made the college experience on campus, different and more exciting than other campuses. I think it is a great day to be a Cardinal and I hope my boys will go there some day.’
‘In my final semester of my MBA program, it was Fall of 2009, and Jared and I were in the International Business class with Dr. Alan. We met on August 25th in the hallway. We were the first ones there and we got to talking. And I don’t remember this, but my best friend, Destiny, told me that, that night after the class I called her and was telling her about meeting Jared and I supposedly said that I might marry him one day. As the semester went on, I liked him and he liked me, but it was like kind of back in high school. We didn’t realize each other did, but the whole class did. As the semester went on, the study abroad opportunity came up to go to China. He told me that he was going to go. So, I decided that I have to find a way to go. We are going to go to China to get to know each other. At some point, he decided he didn’t think he was going to be able to go. But he found out from another classmate that I was going. So, he said, oh I have to go. We were going to follow each other to another country. But at the end of the day, sadly, neither one of us went. We figured out through the process, kind of came out in a weird conversation, that’s how we found out that we liked each other. He was shy, so he never asked me out. I was tired of waiting on him. So, one night after class, I was genuinely just hungry, had come to class straight from work, and I just said, hey, do you want to go have dinner? The way he tells is that I jumped in front of him in the Galloway business building, forced him to stop, and demanded he go to dinner with me. That kind of kicked it off. We were married three years later on August 25th, around the same time that we originally met.’