<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Shelby S. Brown<\/strong><\/p>\n

MC301\/Staff<\/em><\/p>\n

Rapper J. Cole once said, \u201cCollege isn\u2019t in everyone\u2019s hearts. I am living proof though that school doesn\u2019t mess up your plans. It gives you more experiences to write about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three amazing Jackson State University students are learning just that, going to school and pursuing their dreams in the areas of arts and entertainment.<\/p>\n

Tyler Harden, a junior marketing major from Hattiesburg, Miss., is a poet. She has been featured on Jackson State\u2019s Instagram page and has shared some of her poems with the viewers.<\/p>\n

Tyler began writing poetry when she was a young girl.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing up, I used to write on the walls when I was two and three and my mom would make me write essays about how I would not write on the walls anymore. That was my form of punishment. Essays were really long and boring, so I transitioned into writing poems and songs,\u201d said Harden.<\/p>\n

Harden also stated that her mom encouraged her to continue to write poetry. She developed a gift for writing and now has plans to use her marketing degree to market herself as a writer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be able to market myself as a person and market my creative works. I want to go into my own spoken word business and be my own boss of what I do. So, I felt marketing would be a better major for me than English, at the time,\u201d said Harden.<\/p>\n

Charity Hicks, a rapper from Gautier, Miss., and English major at JSU, is another student who is pursuing her dreams.<\/p>\n

Hicks became interested in rap music when she was in high school. She remembers first listening to secular music, which was not permitted in her home, as a teenager. She soon began to write her own raps. Teaching will be her second option if she does not reach her goal of becoming a famous rapper.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a perfect world, I wouldn\u2019t actually have to teach, but I wanted to be able to do something else if I had to put the music on hold. I wanted to have an impact on kids because they are our tomorrow,\u201d said Hicks.<\/p>\n

Hicks was inspired by a former teacher to pursue education.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer name was Ms. Blackwell and she was one of the most phenomenal teachers that I have ever had. I saw the way she took time with students and molded what potential she saw (in them),\u201d said Hicks.<\/p>\n

Hicks is not the only JSU rapper that has a backup plan. Devin Cousin, a junior mass communication major from Jackson, Miss., whose stage name is Dev Maccc, also plans to use his education to become successful.<\/p>\n

His rap interest started at a very young age.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really just started to want to rap because of because of Bow Wow,\u201d said Cousin.<\/p>\n

Cousin was influenced to rap by the young rap mogul and also admires by how Bow Wow has evolved<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought, if I\u2019m going to rap, I want to make sure I never let my fans think that I care about materialistic things and that I will always connect with them,\u201d said Cousin.<\/p>\n

Cousin explained why he chose to major in mass communication.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love communicating with people and getting information out of people\u2026just in case if I had to have a backup plan, I could do the radio,\u201d said Cousin.<\/p>\n

All three Jackson State students feel that whether or not they garner success in their chosen entertainments fields, education will always be important in their lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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