Kairis Jones

Student

“Socializing, having fun: all that stuff will fall into place. But now I must concentrate more on my studies.”

“It’s fun. The classes are hard, but I like the challenge,” says Kairis Jones, graduate of St. Mary’s High School in Inglewood. “I didn’t really study a lot in high school. I didn’t have to. But all that’s different at SMC.” Kairis is very serious about her goals—and what it will take to reach them. “I came to SMC because I need to learn how to apply myself more. I felt I wasn’t ready for a four-year school because I never really learned how to study. And I want to transfer out of state and I didn’t think that would be a good thing to do without being prepared and aware of how colleges work.”

The college that Kairis is setting her sights on is Clark in Atlanta, Georgia. “I want to be a psychologist, so I’m taking sociology, psychology and human development. I’ll probably work in marriage or child counseling,” she explains. “But the reason I want to go to Clark is that it’s an historically Black college. And I think it’s important for me to know my own culture before I can begin to deal with other people.” And in reaching towards her goals, Kairis has found some powerful allies at SMC.

“Ms. Davis-Culp is my English teacher and she lets me know that I can’t mess around in her class. If I don’t do the work I should be doing, she won’t take it, and I respect that.” Deyna Hearn in counseling has also lit a certain spark with Kairis. “She always lets me know that when I need help, any kind of help, I can always go to her.” Kairis says that in her long-term plan, helping to explain people from diverse cultures to each other is going to be a priority. “I’d like to help people be aware of other cultures because I think that so many bad feelings come about just because people are a little different. And it doesn’t have to be that way.”

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