'King' in high school, now a BC freshman
They called him "Elvis Boy," and it's easy to understand why. Incoming Boston College freshman Jeff Peloquin wasn't even born when Elvis Presley officially left the building for the final time.
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But the Marysville, Wash., native turned his high school years into a tribute even Colonel Tom Parker couldn't have dreamed up.
Every day, without fail, Peloquin wore an Elvis T-shirt to school. The 19-year-old also graduated from Marysville-Pilchuck High School with a 4.0 grade point average, a 1590 on his SAT, and was his class valedictorian.
As he begins college this week, Peloquin is confronting his own version of a dilemma faced by nearly every new college student: Do you cling to your teenage identity, or is it time to leave behind your personal "Blue Hawaii"?
How old were you when you first discovered Elvis?
It was fourth grade, so I would have been 10. It was Elvis's birthday, and my mom had on the radio, and I heard "Blue Suede Shoes."
And then what? You just started collecting his music?
Well, I used him for a project. We had "The Night of the Notables" at school where we had to dress up as someone famous, and I chose Elvis. I wore an Hawaiian shirt and had a ukulele.
So how did the T-shirt thing start?
After I went to Graceland in the spring of ninth grade, I had enough shirts to wear one every single day of the week. I have about 15 now. I have a couple of Graceland, one of them has Elvis as artist of the century, and has his picture aligned with the stars. I have a couple of Blue Hawaii ones, one patriotic one, when he was in his Army uniform, and there's a flag in the background. And then there are just some general ones, portraits of him.
Did the other kids at school give you a hard time?
I got teased at first, but toward the end, I was known as 'Elvis Boy.' People would come up to me and say, 'You're that Elvis kid.' As valedictorian, I gave a speech about Elvis, and everyone cheered.
Some people say one of the good things about going to college is getting a chance to reestablish yourself. In your case, I wonder if that means you'll leave Elvis Boy behind.
When I was back there in July for freshmen orientation, a couple of professors and student leaders had seen an article about me on the Boston College website, and they actually identified me as 'Elvis Guy.' So it has already carried over. But I am planning to move on. I figure I probably won't wear the shirts every day, especially once it gets to be winter. I was (here) in February, in Boston, and I was the only one wearing a T-shirt.
Will you still bring mementos to school to commemorate the King?
I have a set of Matchbox cars I'll bring. They're cars that Elvis drove sometime in his life, like a pink Cadillac. I have a lot of pictures, too. I can't really see bringing a lot of that stuff, though.
Are you musical?
I play the tuba. I'm going to be in the marching band [at BC].
That's not very Elvis-like. Yeah, Elvis music sounds sort of odd on a tuba. But I have a couple of songs I play, "Can't Help Falling in Love," and "Love Me Tender." The ballads definitely work best for listening to on the tuba.
Is Elvis all you listen to?
In terms of music, Elvis is it, although I do love classical music. But I don't wear Beethoven shirts or anything like that.
Didn't you feel that once you started the T-shirt thing, you couldn't stop, because it was sort of your trademark?
Yeah, it's sort of a pain sometimes. I have other shirts.
© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.
