“This is my second year here, but I’m classified as a junior. I came in with six credit hours, and I also attended the JSU Summer Bridge program, which put me ahead coming into my first year.

And at this point, I need to start doing internships, studying for the MCAT and applying to medical school. It’s a lot.

But the thought that I live by is this: What God has for me, is for me and it will always come to me. Because I’ve tried to do certain things that didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to be. But there are other things that I’ve done that I never expected to do. So I feel like God is guiding me because I pray to him for guidance and for answers that I need in life.”

– Yasmin, junior biology/pre-med major from Lamar, Miss.

“Sociology was not my first major at Jackson State. I started as a finance major. But I looked at the curriculum; I took economics in high school. It didn’t really mesh well with me. So I changed my major to urban studies, and that’s when I took a sociology class. And I thought, ‘This is it. This is me.’ I started to learn about theories and how people interact with each other. So when I figured out sociology was the area in which I belong, I was like, ‘Okay, I’m a sociologist.’

I want to get my master’s in philosophy. I want to change the perception around the way that we, as black males, think in society. That’s one of my main goals – to change the rhetoric surrounding the African American male.

But my next goal is to take all of my experiences at Jackson State and pour them into people. I believe in community development, not just physical development but mental development. We have to show young people that HBCUs are not these party schools. They’re black knowledge. Our teachers are history. And I really want to show that I am who I am today because of Jackson State. Without Jackson State, I would not speak as well as I do. I would not be as comfortable as I am in front of audiences. I would not know how to network like I do. So I want to show people that this is what an HBCU can really give you. But what you take from it, you also have to give back to it.

The best thing about Jackson State has to be the people. We can sit on the plaza and have a full conversation and I know that we have a connection. Or I could walk into the Legacy Food Court and speak with one of the workers behind the counter and know that they fully support me in all that I do. They can see me walking around – in regular clothes or in a suit – and say, ‘You’re going to be a successful young man. Don’t let anyone tell you different.’ So it’s really not just the students. It’s not just the faculty or just the staff. It’s everybody together that really pushed me to know that I can do this. I have a full army behind me, and that army is Jackson State.”

– Michael, senior sociology major from Tulsa, Okla.

“It was my senior year in high school, and one of my church members was telling me about how the summer bridge program at JSU was for her. And I always wanted to go to an HBCU, so I was like, ‘Well let’s go look and see what Jackson State is like.’

When we came down, I loved how the campus looked, and they had a DJ playing music on the plaza. I saw the Greek Unity Circle and how everyone was strolling together. I said to myself, ‘I want to go here because it feels like family.’ I knew this was the school for me.

I always wanted to be Greek. Last spring, I became part of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated. My mom is a member of Sigma Gamma Rho. She crossed up north where Sigma Gamma Rhos are very big. And growing up, I wanted to be just like my mom, but she told me not to do anything just because she did it. She told me to see which chapters follow their principles and watch how they handle themselves. That’s who you want to go with.

Well the Lambda Beta chapter, every since I’ve been here, has been warm and welcoming. They have people with different shapes, sizes, personalities, and majors. So I was like, ‘That’s an organization I would love to be part of because I don’t have to try and fit in. I can just be myself.”

– Khaliya, junior psychology major from Park Forest, Ill.

“I‘ve lived in a bunch of different countries. Before coming to the United States, I lived in Kuwait. Before that, I was in India. And before that, I lived in Nauru – an Island off the coast of Australia – for about six months. Before that, I lived in Seychelles, an Island close to Madagascar. The reason we lived in so many areas is because my dad is a medical doctor and he would get asked to go to these different countries to work. Before I was born, my dad worked in Zimbabwe, Austria and Iran.

The best thing I learned through traveling is to have an open mind. Cultures are different, and you have to embrace different cultures. That’s part of the reason I came to Jackson State.

When I was applying for Ph.D. programs in clinical psychology, I wanted a program that had more of an emphasis on diversity issues, because I felt like I really didn’t get that much training in that in undergrad. And with Jackson State being in the deep south, there is a large population of African Americans and a decent population of Latino Americans as well. So I thought it would be a really good place to get some diversity training. And since I’ve been here, I’ve really liked it.”

– Sreenath, graduate clinical psychology student from Hyderabad, India

“Things I experienced in my environment led me to choose social work as my major. There were parents who mistreated kids. Other parents didn’t give kids enough attention. It was a lot.

And I have kids of my own. My little girl will turn three years old on Friday, and my little boy is five months old. At first, it was kind of hard. Their dad and I both had busy schedules, and I wasn’t aware of all of the resources out there to help me. But once I got them in daycare, it made it easier to stay an extra hour or two in the library and do my work. That was a big help for me. And the teachers really helped a lot. I would bring my little girl with me when I took my midterms and finals. They’d let me go to their offices to take my exams.

And they’re passionate. They don’t just give you stuff. They give you real life situations and teach resourceful skills that help in everyday life. They’ve been helping me be more open-minded.

I know I can’t change the world, but hopefully I can make a difference in someone’s life.”

– Lateisha, senior social work major from Hazlehurst, Miss.

“Jackson State was always my number one school. My mom and aunt went to school here. But they were kind of against me coming because it was too far from home, and it cost more than the schools at home. But I never changed my mind. I told them I was going to come here, so they just gave up and said okay. And a lot of my family is down here. So it made it an easy transition.

But, it’s been tough adjusting to being so far from home. I’ve always had my mom by my side. I still have her, but because she’s so far away, I can’t always call on her like I normally would. So I have to handle stuff on my own. It’s kind of scary because I don’t want to grow up that fast. But I don’t call her as often when I need something. I handle it first, and then if I actually need her, I call her. So I’ve been adjusting.”

– Kayla, sophomore biology/pre-med major from Chicago, Ill.

“The toughest thing I’ve had to overcome in my life was my depression. It started my 7th grade year during a tough time. And it carried on up to last year around this time.

Although I’m still dealing with it, over the years, I started doing things to help overcome it. I started painting in the summer of last year. One painting that I did that a lot of people like, and is my prize possession now, is my painting of J. Cole. And just yesterday, I painted Lisa Simpson from The Simpsons. I also painted an elephant in some grass. And I painted a flower for my mom, because she loves flowers. Really, I just randomly paint random things.

And it’s weird because painting was something that I didn’t like doing when I was younger. I actually tried different things. I tried basketball. But I didn’t like it. I was also in the chorus. And singing is fun, but that was not something I wanted to keep doing. I tried sewing. I do hair, but that gets tiring. So, I needed something that didn’t involve other people, something where it could be just me and my own thoughts. And that’s why I came back to painting.”

– Ayana, sophomore political science major from Atlanta, Ga.

“Growing up, I had an artistic eye. I liked to draw and color, but drawing always seemed unfinished to me. Like, there had to be more than that. One night, my family had a paint night. My mom bought a lot of small canvases, and she asked my siblings and me to paint what family meant to us. I did a painting with ‘love’ in cursive, and it had different colors in the background – the colors of our living room. That was my first time painting; I think I was in tenth grade. And I just started painting from there. I used all of the canvases we had left over from the paint night. Then, I started painting on anything I could find, like cardboard from shoeboxes. And I’d use pencils and bobby pins to apply the paint.

I didn’t start taking my art seriously until I got to Jackson State. When I noticed that I could sell my paintings, I created my brand ‘Young Fly Art’ in 2017. I wanted to make the brand an actual business, so I made business cards and started going to events around the city of Memphis. And I’ve been expanding my art. Instead of just canvases, I also paint murals, and I’m getting into more graphic art like logos, album covers and flyers.

In the next five years, I want to open my own studio where I can teach people about art, host art parties and have an area where I can do tattoos. It will be a place where people can come create young, fly art with me.”

– Yasin, junior graphic design major from Memphis, Tenn.

“Being a Christian, my mom has always taught us that even when you’re down, always go to God and ask him to help, because He’s really the sole provider for you. She provided for us physically, but He’s the one that carries us spiritually.

Well, my clothing brand is called Zacari, which means, ‘The Lord Remembers’. I believe that everybody has been given a gift. And I think they should use that gift to help inspire people to find their purpose in life. Whatever career you have – whether it be an athlete, actor, singer or doctor – you should use it to inspire your community and to help others. And that will inspire them to do what they need to do to inspire the next. It creates a domino effect. And that’s what I want to do with my brand. I want to inspire people with my art.

Also, with me being from Jackson, I feel like there’s a lot around Jackson that can be improved. And of course I want to make money for myself. But I also want to use my money to help rebuild Jackson to what it should be.”

– Zacchaeus, senior industrial technology major from Jackson, Miss.

“The female body is just interesting to me. Our bodies do a lot. We carry babies! It’s so intriguing to me how our bodies work, and how we can carry a whole life inside of us. That’s why I wanted to pursue the career that I’m pursuing. I want to be an OBGYN, delivering babies and doing feminine check-ups.

I’ve wanted to be a doctor ever since I was in kindergarten. And more recently, I’ve being seeing a lot of articles about black women passing away while they’re giving birth, or passing away right after giving birth, because doctors aren’t paying them any attention or aren’t believing them when they complain about pains and things. Even in my family, my great grandmother passed away while giving birth to my grandmother. And the more I see videos and hear stories like that, the more it makes me realize that that’s why I’m here. I’m here to save somebody. Because if we don’t take care of our people, who will?”

– Taylor, senior biology-pre-med major from Mobile, Ala.