Scientology Helped Architect Jeff Jenner - Build a Better Life

Jeff Jenner was focused on success in his career, but he felt there was something missing in his life. And there was. His profile is one of 200 “Meet a Scientologist” videos available on the Scientology website at www.scientology.org.

When he was 16, Jeff Jenner’s parents did something that changed his life.

“They laid down the law,” says Jenner. “They told me—‘no more just drifting through school.’ They insisted that I decide on a career and pick a major.”

A high school junior at the time, Jenner found a library book on professions, and started flipping through the pages.

“I never got past the A’s,” he says. “What grabbed my attention was ‘architecture.’ I always loved drawing, and my favorite thing to draw was buildings. So I set my sights on this profession and that’s exactly what I did.”

But once he accomplished his career goals, on another level he felt he was still drifting.

In Frankfurt, Germany, while on vacation in 1999, a Scientologist suggested Jenner take a personality test. The test pointed out shortcomings he had suspected but had never really confronted before. He also got a copy of the Dianetics book, which he finished reading by the time he got home to Chicago.

“When I read Dianetics what really rang true for me was the feeling of hope I got from it,” Jenner says. “I got the idea that people could lead better lives—be happier and more able. That was something I wanted and I wanted to pursue.”

Using Dianetics, Jenner overcame the stress that had caused him headaches and neck and shoulder tension for years. But Dianetics relieved a lot more for him than physical discomfort and pain. The effect on his work was noticeable as well.

“I have a very good relationship with my clients, because I learned a great deal about communication and I put it to use in my work,” he says. “Life isn’t ‘serious’ to me. That doesn’t mean I’m flippant, but I don’t get mired down by problems and I’m confident in my own abilities. I find it much easier to take criticism, which is very important in a creative field where people tend to have opinions about your work and they are not all pleasant. I can listen to what they think, learn from it, but maintain my own point of view while I take the advice I agree with and set the rest aside.”

In 2003, Jenner moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, to be closer to the spiritual headquarters of the Scientology religion in nearby Clearwater. A year later he met and married Yulia, 41, a Russian Scientologist, and became the father of a young boy, Yulia’s son Daniil, now 17.

“I can’t imagine being married or raising a family without the tools I’ve learned in Scientology,” says Jenner, 40. “Yulia and I have built our relationship on two Scientology principles. The first is the importance of communication—don’t leave things unsaid. Talk them out. You can always resolve it if you talk about it. And the second—you only have a marriage as long as you create it. So we work at it and make it work.”

Jenner’s personal philosophy aligns with L. Ron Hubbard’s definition of personal integrity: “Personal integrity is knowing what you know. What you know is what you know and to have the courage to know and say what you have observed. And that is integrity and there is no other integrity.”

“I like to look at things for myself and see what’s happening instead of relying on what someone else might say,” says Jenner. “That’s what appealed to me about Scientology. And it is a principle I use in every aspect of my life.”

View the Jeff Jenner video at Scientology.org.

The popular “Meet a Scientologist” profiles on the Church of Scientology International Video Channel at Scientology.org now total 200 broadcast-quality documentary videos featuring Scientologists from diverse locations and walks of life. The personal stories are told by Scientologists who are educators, teenagers, skydivers, a golf instructor, a hip-hop dancer, IT manager, stunt pilot, mothers, fathers, dentists, photographers, actors, musicians, fashion designers, engineers, students, business owners and more.

A digital pioneer and leader in the online religious community, in April 2008 the Church of Scientology became the first major religion to launch its own official YouTube Video Channel, which has now been viewed by millions of visitors.