It’s time for his interview, and Daniel Jones isn’t fooling around. A friend is laughing and messing with him but now is not the time.
“Hold on, I don’t play. I got to focus on this. I want to answer her questions as seriously as possible.”
That same intensity and maturity is a recurrent theme during an interview at HD Woodson, from which Daniel is a 2014 graduate. Throughout the conversation, he pauses to reflect and think about his past, present, and future before giving words to his thoughts. In the process, he reveals a steady stream of sharp insights and big goals for the future. He’ll further refine them at Morehouse College, where he’s headed for the next stage of life. In fact, he left the day after graduation—also his birthday—to start a six-week enrichment program there to prepare for the fall semester.
Some excerpts from a conversation with Mr. Jones:
On the road to a Ph.D
I’m interested in neuroscience, sociology, psychology, and acting. I also want to learn Chinese and Spanish. I remember taking a Chinese class in 2nd grade and I still remember some of the words. I want a doctorate one day, too.
Leaving Woodson
I’m going to miss the atmosphere and learning environment. We always have something more to learn here. I’ll miss the students because I might never see them again. And I’ll miss the challenges… we’re in a low-income neighborhood where we don’t always have the same resources as those in high-income neighborhoods and you have to push. So I’ll miss that challenge…but I know I’ll have other ones.
It’s Those Twins
I’m proud that I found my own will to learn. In middle school, I did poorly because I didn’t try. When I came to HD Woodson and saw other kids walk across the stage and get medals and straight A’s and get rewarded, I was like, “I can do that too.” I guess it was jealousy that brought out my best.
Actually, it was the twins in my class--when I saw the twins had gotten straight A’s. I had two B’s and two A’s and I had thought I was everything. And then I saw they got better grades than I did! Since then, it made me push harder. I wanted to compete, so I stopped working toward letter grades and instead toward the best I can be.
If you work toward a letter grade you don’t learn as much, but if you work for your own self… that’s another thing.
“I have to make it for everyone”
When I first came here I was just going to school. It was nothing exciting. But now, as I leave Woodson, I feel like I have a burden on my shoulder to have a purpose in life. I feel like I have to make it not just for myself but for everyone who didn’t—my family, my community.
The people who are sitting at the corner store for the last 40 years are still trying to sell me cigarettes. They should be giving me advice. All they see is another day on the block. But I see something else. I want to change that. I want to do it for them.
I feel like we, my neighborhood, has been killed—in some cases, literally. But also killed by ignorance. I want to save this generation from our flaws. I want to change the world. I want to be an activist. Can I do all that?
Advice—do’s and don’ts
Be yourself, and don’t just work toward school standards because if you only do that, you won’t be prepared for college. Instead, take it a step further because that’s what’s expected of you in college. Don’t fall for peer pressure. Don’t skip a class. Don’t try to impress people who don’t really care about you. Make sure you have real friends. Don’t procrastinate. If you do these things, you won’t fall behind.
What the future holds
I’m excited about meeting people in college who I’ll know for the rest of my life. I really feel like school is about to impact my life in a huge way. I can educate myself so I can educate others. When I say I want to be an activist, it’s just an idea I have. But I know school will help me mold and shape my ideas into an accurate solution to the problems I see in the world and America, like oppression.