“My father, Soulja Slim, was a legend. He would have loved to see what I’m doing now. Going to school? He would have loved that. He didn’t go to school. I chose school because it’s the best way out.

I’m an artist, signed to Juvenile and I’m in a group with Juvenile’s son and BG’s son. I really want to own my own record label in the future. It’s easy to just go and find a job. But, if you want to own the business and give jobs, you need to know the business. You need to know everything that goes along with it. So, I’m here to own the business. I plan to further my career and be a 50 Cent or a Jay-Z.

The toughest part for me right now is having to make these Thursday night and Friday night shows, way out of town and making it back for class on Monday. It’s tough, but I get it done. So, it’s never impossible. It’s always possible.”

– Adarryl (Lil Soulja Slim), junior management major

 

“Family tradition brought me to Jackson State. My mother and father’s family came here. It’s something I wanted to keep alive for them. My dad is a Cop. I get scared for him, because he works in Memphis, a very dangerous city. When he graduated from the police academy I cried because I was scared for him.

But he’s not scared at all. And, he gives me advice a lot. He tells me to pray everyday, and never let anyone tell me what I can or can’t do because of my size. I’m usually always the smallest guy. So, my motto in life is ‘It’s not the size of the dog in the fight; it’s the size of the fight in the dog.'”

– Desmond, sophomore Recreation Administration major from Memphis, TN

I transferred here from a PWI, but I always planned on going to an HBCU right out of high school. I was actually scheduled to attend one until three weeks before my move in date. That’s when I found out that I had cervical cancer. After leaving the doctor’s office that day, I sat in the parking lot for, like, an hour, crying.

My dad is a pastor, so once I talked to him about my cancer, he told me to pray about it. I was really mean to him, actually, and said that you can’t pray about everything. But, my mom told me that he really didn’t understand because he hadn’t had any serious illness like that. My mom actually had cervical cancer when she was pregnant with me and she motivated me to just go on living my life like I was. She was living proof that it will affect your life but it won’t stop you from being great.

I got mad at my dad when he told me to pray about my cancer. But when I actually started praying about it and getting into the word about it, it really just taught me to keep my faith. The 13th is what me and my mom call my lucky day. I was born on October on Friday the 13th and on November 13, 2015, I found out that my cancer was in remission.”

– Destiny, junior marketing major from Baton Rouge, Louisiana

“Being in college is not an easy experience. There are lots of trials and tribulations. People say that college isn’t for everybody. And, at some point along this journey, I started to question whether it was for me.

But then I had to realize that every time I thought it was my end, God would show me that it was only my beginning. And, he brought something different and new to the table every time. When I was down, or had come to a road block, he showed me a way to get over it or around it. He showed me new routes, new options, and many different ways to accomplish a goal. I learned that if you’re not able to get through the front door, then try the back door and see where it takes you.

It’s just knowing that no matter what trial you may go through, whether good or bad, all of it is working for your good.”

– Dwayne, junior business marketing major from St. Louis

I am a 1990 graduate of Jackson State University. I came here from Shaw, MS, a little small town in the Delta. After attending JSU’s Senior Day, I became hooked on the University. When I got ready to come back here to start school as a freshman, I had to hitch hike a ride. My mom gave me $20. I caught a ride with a guy and got dropped off at the corner of Lynch Street and Prentiss Street. I gave him $10 of the $20 that I had. I didn’t know anything about college, but Jackson State took me in and found a major for me. I finished my undergraduate degree in industrial technology and later earned my Master’s in Industrial Engineering at Mississippi State, and my Ph.D in Industrial Engineering at North Carolina A&T, and worked for many years.”

“How did you survive on $10?”

“As a freshman, we ate a lot of potted meat in the can, like vienna sausages and Spam. Also, I worked in the cafeteria during the evenings, and I was able to take some of the left over food with me. My mom would send me maybe $5 every two weeks. We didn’t have a lot of money. But, God blessed. We were poor, but in abundance in not knowing that we were poor. I got home for Thanksgiving Break by looking for cars with Bolivar County, Sunflower County, or Washington County tags. I figured that if I could catch a ride and get halfway home, I could get someone to come pick me up. I found someone from Bolivar County who was riding alone, so that’s how I got home.”

“How did the experience help shape you as a person?”

“I realized that not everything has to be perfect. Things may not always go the way that I plan, but God has not abandoned me. He blessed me to come to Jackson State University broke and he blessed me to get a ride home for Thanksgiving. So, it taught me that regardless of the situation, there’s always a silver lining.” – Douglas, assistant professor of management

“I don’t only identify as a woman, but I identify specifically as an African-American woman. So with that, I do believe that, too many of our rights as women are determined by male perceptions. For example, here in the state of Mississippi, legislators are trying to pass a bill that says women can only get abortions before they are five-weeks pregnant. But a lot of times, women don’t even know that they are pregnant before five weeks.

Also, equal pay is a big issue. I believe we’re at a point where women have not only shown their leadership, but have shown their value in societies around the world. So, we believe we deserve at least equal pay to men.

But it has been embedded in our culture for centuries, this double standard of what women should do, and the role that men should play. That’s what we have been raised to believe. However, I believe that eventually that perception will be eliminated, because various women in different leadership roles have been able to show that we are equal with men.”

– Ruqayya, a junior marketing major from Little Rock, Arkansas.