By Craig Williams

Janyia Williams began our interview with a simple, humble sentence about herself she then went on to contradict for the next twenty minutes. She softly said, when I asked her about plans after high school, “Hmmm, I really don’t even know how to be an adult.” Then, throughout the span of our interview, she confidently tells me about her hopes to become an engineer, about her 4.0 high school GPA and the 3.73 GPA she’s maintained through the Fast Start Program at Shawnee Community College; she tells me about 4-year colleges she’s already got lined up when she finishes at Shawnee, and she casually mentions her love of math — and her appreciation for Mrs. Harris, the teacher who’s inspired her to take on different kinds of math she didn’t used to think she could do. She told me that if she had a magic wand, she would wave it over her community and create better employment and entertainment opportunities, she told me that faith is important to her, and that she might like to live in Texas one day. And so, to all of that, I say, “Hmmm, it sounds to me like you know exactly how to adult!”

In fact, I suspect Janyia has a better handle on ‘adulting’ than lots of adults. And she clearly has her plans in order. She credits much of who she has become to her late Grandmother, who passed last August, after a long series of health challenges. Janyia cared for her since she was a freshman and considers her lessons to be among the greatest she’s ever received. Her eyes moisten and drift toward the ceiling as she recalls a photograph of then Senator Barack Obama holding her, as a baby, in his arms and standing next to her Grandma on a visit to Pulaski. Two of the most inspirational people in her life in one picture. After speaking with Janyia, I would say there were three inspirational people in the picture, that day.

Janyia plays power forward and center in basketball and loves listening to music by Lil Baby, Lil Durk, and occasionally jumps genres to country performer, Morgan Wallen. Growing up in Mounds and Pulaski, her days were filled with stomps through the creek and the woods, and good times on four-wheelers with friends. Day trips with her family to St. Louis or Memphis, with the occasional jaunt to Florida, have rounded out a well-supported childhood of exploration and wonder. All of these moments and all of these people — including one very special grandmother — have brought Janyia to this point in her life.

Every day and in so many ways this young woman makes us all proud beyond measure. She will do great things. And with two younger brothers, a community, and her Grandma above, all watching, she will continue to inspire and to wield her magic wand for the good of all.