Jonelle Williams

Student

“In high school I felt I had a complete lack of focus. But that’s all changed. Now I feel that I’m filled with focus, drive, and motivation.”

She’s a bit of a dazzling intellect, is Jonelle Williams, who devours languages like others devour French fries. “I’ve been thinking about minoring in Linguistics because I’ve always loved languages,” said the young woman who was just tackling Japanese. “I’ve studied French, Spanish, and Italian, as well. But Japanese—the language of the world’s second-largest economy—can really help me if I decide to go into corporate law.”

When asked if a Ph.D might be somewhere in her future, Jonelle replied, “I was just talking about that with my dad this morning. He’s always been the biggest proponent of my education and, in fact, he’s going to SMC as well. He’s in Engineering, but he’s taking classes in Oceanography and Astronomy, simply to learn. I hate to say it,” she says with a laugh, “but he’s doing better than I am! And it’s great to get together with him in the Library to compare notes and study together.” SMC is indeed a way of life for the Williams family—Jonelle and her dad are also joined in study by her two brothers.

But as far as her own studies go, Jonelle reports she’s found “the highest quality of teaching at SMC. My Japanese teacher, Mr. Nishikawa, is just great. He impressed me so much when, in our first class, he just launched off in Japanese. And I think what’s very important in any language class is to first hear how the language sounds. Then you know what you’re aiming for.” Jonelle adds, “I expect to succeed in life because I have the discipline to overcome bad habits. ‘Procrastination’—especially with homework—is just not in my vocabulary.”

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