For his next act, Jack Martin, known in the Page County area for his theater, haunted house and movie work, is headed to Radford University to study computer science. He is saving a great deal of time and money on his bachelor’s degree because he already has his associate degree in general studies from Laurel Ridge.
Martin graduated from Luray High School in 2023, and earned his Laurel Ridge degree in May 2025. He arrived at the college with numerous credits under his belt thanks to the many dual-enrolled classes he took while still in high school.
“I just wanted to get some progress on college and ultimately I liked having the workload,” Martin said of his decision to dual enroll. “It felt hard, it felt challenging.
“I really liked my creative writing class. That was just a delight, and my public speaking one. Those were both so much fun.”
Martin fit his passion for acting around his college classes. He is a regular performer at Darkwood Manor, billed as “Virginia’s number one theatrical and interactive haunted house.” Martin is also an active participant with Trackside Theater.
“I was in a small indie movie,” he said. “I like doing a lot of acting. It’s a fun hobby.”
While he hopes to join a local theater at Radford, Martin will be pursuing his bachelor’s degree in computer science, with his ultimate career goal being video game design.
“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” he said.
Martin was inspired to attend Laurel Ridge by one of his high school teachers.
“He talked about how financially he helped himself by going to a two-year college first,” Martin said. “I thought, ‘That’s smart. I should do that.’ I realized that Laurel Ridge is a really good community college and I could probably get a lot done there.”
Laurel Ridge Community College was known as Lord Fairfax Community College until June 2022. For consistency purposes, the college will be referenced as Laurel Ridge going forward.