“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.

“I‘m an only child, but that’s because my baby brother passed away three days before our shared birthday. I was turning 13; he was turning three.

I was at home getting my room ready for my birthday sleepover that weekend. My mom left to deliver a package to a church and she took my brother with her so I could be free to prepare for the sleepover. While she was inside the church, someone asked her to move her vehicle because they were doing construction down the road and needed the space. So my mom left my brother with my great aunt while she went to move the car. But my brother thought my mom was leaving him with my aunt. So he jumped down from her and ran after my mom. Before my mom could move the car, she heard a thump on the side of the car. She got out and saw my brother lying on the gravel.

I got a call telling me that something happened, and I was going to be taken to the hospital. On the way there, I was quiet as a mouse because I didn’t know what was going on. When we got there, I saw people crying. The pastor told me something happened to my brother. That was the last thing I was expecting to hear.

I wish my brother was still here. But in talking to God, I started to understand that everything happens for a reason. Sometimes I get discouraged. But I can’t stay down for too long because I know my brother used to look up to me. He used to make me feel like I’m the most amazing person in the world. So I have to keep going because that’s what my brother would’ve wanted me to do.”

– Naysa, junior marketing major from St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

“When I first came to JSU, I majored in early childhood education. But when I started taking classes, I felt like teaching wasn’t for me. I wanted to do something in technology, so I decided to major in industrial technology. And my concentration in computer technology. They basically work hand-in-hand.

I wouldn’t say that industrial technology is a hard field. But it requires a lot of concentration. You’re dealing with electricity, which can shock you. So you have to take certain precautions and study more. You have to know the information, especially when you do labs.

There aren’t a lot of women in the field. In my classes, there are probably two or three, including myself. Since it’s male-dominated, you have to put yourself out there more. It’s not going to be easy.

But so far, my experience has been great. I got in honors college, and everyone there has been helpful. And the people in my major are helpful too. My professors are there whenever I need them – even after hours. So it’s been a great experience ever since freshman year.

As I go into my senior year, I hope everything continues to go well.”

– Tiffany, junior industrial technology major from Jackson, Miss.

“My mom was told that she couldn’t give birth because of some things that had happened to her. When she got pregnant with me, they actually gave her medicine to terminate the pregnancy because she was told that if she went through with the pregnancy, it would end her life. But, I still made it through. We both did.

I was supposed to be born in November, but I was born in June – four and a half months early. When I was born, I weighed 1 pound and 6 ounces and was as long as a new pencil. And I was breached. Also, I was in my third stage of blindness because my cornea grew backward. But miraculously, it didn’t get to the fifth stage.

“I’ve been playing baseball my whole life. My grandpa taught me; he’s always been my coach. He used to play professionally in Mexico. It’s been a while since he’s seen me play in person – since I’ve been in college, away from home. But, if the game is streamed, he’ll watch me online.

The rest of my family has played, but I’m the only one who has taken it seriously enough to play in high school and college. And, it’s getting me a free education, so I’m thankful for that. My goal is to play professional baseball. If not, I’d like to coach someday.

“This is my first trip to the United States. The biggest difference I’ve found is that it’s really quite spacious here. And the people here are really friendly. They greet each other, even though they do not know each other. So I find the people here are really nice. Even the weather, I like. It’s not so hot here, compared to where I live. I find that it’s quite comfortable.

I am here learning how to teach English in China. One of the things I’m doing is a comparison study of Chinese students and American students. In China, we have a lot of people. So in English class, we have more than forty or fifty students in the class. But here, there are small groups of students. So it’s different.

And in China, students are not so willing to talk in the class. While learning a language, they should be stimulated to talk, to voice their opinions. However, they’re not so willing to do that. But the Americans are happy to talk in class and voice their opinions. It’s quite interesting.

The most difficult thing for me is finding something to kill my time. Sometimes, I’m a little bit lonely. I sit here and read a book and watch people pass by. But I’m really interested in the braids I see. I’m wondering how long it takes to make the braid. In China, more and more people are willing to make braids. People in China now love hip hop, so they are learning from the people here. I find that quite interesting.”

– Zhijun, visiting scholar from China