I don’t know Geoff Peard, and chances are, neither do you. I say “know” in the sense of being acquainted; certainly most students know of him. However, this doesn’t stop rumors and tales spreading about the sophomore. But this doesn’t bother him.

“I kinda let people come up with their own image for me. I don’t really have a particular idea of…the way I’m perceived,” Peard said in a hallway interview. “Many people perceive me differently than the way I actually am.”

The first time I heard about Peard was through an off-hand tale that someone spewed out, saying that Peard had tossed money out of his silver Mercedes while driving, exclaiming that it’s “just paper.”

When I interviewed Peard, all my preconceptions, including the previous story, vanished. He wasn’t the cash-slinging, egotistic underclassmen I had heard about: he was a genuine, polite gentleman. But more than that, he was surprisingly down to earth, an odd thing for a teenager who drives a Mercedes and deals with the amount of money that he does.

Peard, like any other teenager, is just trying to figure things out. However, things are a little different for him: Peard received a certificate of deposit from a deceased relative that entitled him to a certain amount of cash, more than most high school students–and most people–would receive.

For a student with that amount of cash, Peard spends it in relatively selfless ways: throwing parties.

“[I throw parties] for a fun time…I mean, kinda just for everybody to enjoy,” Peard said.

The friendly sophomore will spend up to $10,000 to throw an incredible party, depending on the DJ and how many people can come.

Peard later agreed to being a party guy, adding, “I definitely enjoy…big groups of people and just being around all my friends and everything.”

When asked if he was going to throw any parties soon, Peard responded, “Oh yeah…definitely.”