Though Jaret Campisi said he enjoys going to class as little as possible and playing video games, the past seven years of his life have been spent creating his first LP, Pineapple Sunrise.

Inspired by Dave Matthews Band, Campisi (senior-geography) began to teach himself the guitar when he was 15.

"My mom grounded me, so I picked up my brother's guitar one day and started fooling around with it in my room," he said.

Campisi said he began teaching himself chords by using tabs from the Internet, and before he knew it he was playing in local places around town and writing his own music. His lyrics mostly center on the girlfriend he has had since sixth grade.

"Not all of my music is about love," he said. "Some of them are about weird ideas. Ideas that come into your head about pursuing your dreams."

Campisi said unlike many artists nowadays, his lyrics are 100 percent original.

"I am so surprised to find how many artists don't write their own music. That is what distinguishes me from other young artists," he said.

What also distinguishes Campisi from others is that, after graduating from Mechanicsburg's Cumberland Valley High School in 2001, he came to Penn State on a track and field scholarship and placed in the 2005 Big Ten Championships.

Campisi said he continues to run for Penn State while trying to jumpstart his music career.

Jordan Coulson, a senior electronic media and film major at Towson University and a friend of Campisi's, incorporated Campisi's music into a short film he created, titled Raising the Bar, and sent it to HBO.

"Jaret's music is melodic, deep and its content relates to real life experiences presented in my film," he said.

Campisi has already written about 30 songs on his own and continues to come up with ideas every day with the help of the music of some of his influences, including John Mayer and Gavin DeGraw, he said.

"I hope my music is uplifting and a little different from what people are used to, which is why it's so hard playing Penn State," he said. "Everyone is looking to hear cover songs."

The musician played at Crowbar, 420 E. College Ave., twice last year at a benefit for a member of his track team who died. He also said he tries to play at parties -- as many as possible.

"I would love to be in a band and I hope to someday go on tour," Campisi said. "I would love to walk into a stadium of 50,000 people and just start playing."

Campisi said he has sold about 50 CDs in the last month on CDbaby.com. His added that his album is called Pineapple Sunrise because it offers people a way of looking at life in a new light.

A friend of Campisi, Lauren Gross (freshman-division of undergraduate studies) said she will buy his LP because he is talented and has passion for what he does.

"As his peers, why shouldn't we support something someone puts so much time, effort and heart into?" she asked.

Campisi said he has come a long way from playing guitar in his room and having his mom yell at him to close his door.

"Jaret is 90 percent better than any popular artist out there. The future for his music career is limitless," Coulson said.

Sample songs can be found at www.purevolume.com/jaretcampisi and www.jaretcampisi.com.

"I want to do this for the rest of my life, even if no one is listening," Campisi said.