Published: September 01. 2010 2:00AM

By Leslie Provence
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Cathy Jones is a native Greenvillian who has returned home after living away for almost 30 years. She graduated from J.L. Mann High School and went to college at the University of South Carolina where she majored in journalism. She lived in Charlotte, N.C., for over 20 years and moved back to Greenville after living in Blowing Rock, N.C., for the last five years. While in Blowing Rock, Jones was executive director of the Appalachian Regional Healthcare Foundation, a three-hospital system in the northwestern mountains of North Carolina. Jones became executive director of the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts Foundation in June. The Governor's School is a public residential high school for gifted emerging artists and draws students from across the state of South Carolina. Jones says she is continually amazed by the remarkable stories she hears about how students' lives are changed while at the school, and she is excited to be working with such a dedicated faculty and staff. She is quickly learning what the school means to the community, the state and the world of arts education.

1. Where were you born?

Greenville, S.C.

2. Are you and introvert or an extrovert?

An extrovert.

3. Is your desk messy or neat?

Messy, but I can find anything I need on it.

4. What was your first job?

Radio advertising sales in a one-horse town at an AM station. Need I say more about first jobs?

5. What is your pet peeve?

Seeing someone being treated disrespectfully.

6. What is your favorite thing about Greenville?

The fact that our Governor's School campus is on the edge of our beautiful and vibrant downtown area.

7. What was your first car?

A really ugly Ford Mustang.

8. What was your major in college?

Journalism.

9. What is your favorite comfort food?

Cheeseburger and fries.

10. What is your idea of a dream vacation?

To have a week at a tropical location.

11. What is your most extravagant indulgence?

Monthly massages for the past 17 years.

12. What store would you choose to max out your credit card?

Nordstrom.

13. What's your favorite thing to cook?

Nothing, but I like almost anything cooked by someone else.

14. What is one thing people would never guess about you?

My dad built my sister and me a playhouse when we were children with all the amenities, including hardwood floors and electrical wiring. I moved it to my home and use it as my potting shed.

15. What was your favorite subject in school?

English.

16. What advice would you give to a young person just starting out?

Persevere and stay positive.

17. Do you prefer the mountains or the beach?

The mountains. I just moved back to Greenville from Blowing Rock.

18. What kind of music do you most enjoy?

'70s and beach.

19. What are your hobbies?

Tennis, gardening and exploring Greenville, my new-old city.

20. What was your last vacation?

Folly Beach with my best high school girlfriends.