As a freshman at The University of Memphis, Mikayla Jones appreciates her beauty, but believes her brains will take her much further. While earning scholastic achievements and dancing her way through her young years, as a ballerina, Mikayla was a class favorite at her former high school, St. Mary’s Episcopal School in Memphis, Tennessee, as a graduate of the class of 2020. Since childhood, Mikayla has always exuded a warm appeal, drawing others to her, naturally.
Like many college freshman, Mikayla has had to endure spending her first semester of college in the midst of the Covid-19 Pandemic. But the Memphis native says she’s adjusting nicely, and she hasn’t let the pandemic stop her from being her best self.
“I like my online classes, for the most part,” Mikayla says. “It just gets hard to stare at a screen all day. Other than that, the transition hasn’t been bad at all.”
Since Mikayla is very social, she says that being cooped up in her room all day can be a bit frustrating. “I’m hoping things will go back to normal soon,” she notes.
Mikayla is already on track to graduating early from college because of her exceptional ACT and AP scores. “I want to get into med school,” says the vivacious freshman.
When thinking about her future, Mikayla says in ten years she envisions herself in a residency, preparing to become an anesthesiologist. And when it comes to her beauty advice to others, Mikayla emphasizes “Drink plenty of water!”
Keep reading to find out more about Mikayla’s academic accomplishments, community engagements and volunteer efforts. You can also hear Mikayla’s Senior Speech at St. Mary’s Episcopal School below.
Mikayla Jones:
Student Council Director of Communications (2019-20), Jr. Class Vice-President, Member of National Honor Society (2018–2020), National Merit Scholar, Member of National Beta Club (2017–2020), Member of the National Spanish Honor Society (2017-2020), Member of the Minority Student Association – MoSAic (2017-2020), Member the Black Student Alliance, Member of Kingdom Builders Youth Ministry – St. Mark M.B. Church, Bridge Builder’s Collaborate Program participant (2015–2019), Mid-South Food Bank volunteer, Meals on Wheels volunteer, Multi-National Ministries volunteer, Binghampton Christian Academy volunteer and Orange Mound Beautification volunteer.