{"id":1031,"date":"2026-06-15T13:09:38","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T13:09:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=1031"},"modified":"2026-06-15T13:09:38","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T13:09:38","slug":"this-west-philly-high-graduate-almost-dropped-out-of-school-instead-he-has-a-diploma-and-a-full-time-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=1031","title":{"rendered":"This West Philly High graduate almost dropped out of school. Instead, he has a diploma and a full-time job."},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div><audio><\/audio><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>School wasn\u2019t always Jayzen Smith\u2019s priority.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>For a time, during his 10th grade year at West Philadelphia High, Smith didn\u2019t know where he was going to sleep at night, or how he\u2019d scrape together his next meal. <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=1029\">Hurricanes blank Golden Knights to claim Stanley Cup; coach Rod Brind\u2019Amour, GM and West Philly native Eric Tulsky among champs<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cI stopped coming to school,\u201d said Smith. \u201cI was not doing the right things. It got so bad that I used to come only for first period, and leave out.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>But Smith\u2019s teachers noticed. They pulled him aside to ask what he needed and how they could help. They told him he was smart but he had to come to school andenvision a future for himself.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cThat showed me I had people who cared about me,\u201d said Smith. Those conversations, those educators, galvanized him. Coming to school steadily built opportunities \u2014 new skills, internships, paying jobs, anda solid future.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Smith graduated with honors last week after earning a citywide Philadelphia School District honor this winter and maintaining perfect attendance since 2023. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>He\u2019s employed full-time in operations with the Penn Medicine health system, a job with benefits and tuition reimbursement. He\u2019s eyeing trade school after he socks away enough for his own car and apartment.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The diploma, the accolades, andthe steady path were not a given, said Smith, 19. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cHonestly, I thought I was going to be dead or in jail by now,\u201d said Smith. \u201cEverything still feels unreal.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<h3>\u2018He just has this way about him\u2019<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Marie Wilkins-Walker, a veteran West Philadelphia computer networking teacher, knew there was something special about Smith, even when he was hardly showing up to class.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cHe just has this way about him, he says hi to everybody, and I noticed he caught on very quick \u2014 he was very intelligent,\u201d Wilkins-Walker said. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Wilkins-Walker and another teacher set up a meeting with Smith during those low-attendance days. Just come to class, they said. You\u2019re so smart, they told him. West is good at connecting kids with resources to fill in the gaps that might exist at home, they said.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cWhen we started talking about college, he told me that no one had ever talked to him about college,\u201d said Wilkins-Walker. \u201cHe was in 10th grade, and no one had ever talked to him about college.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=1027\">A popular but deadly hiking trail will reopen in the Poconos<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Technology wasn\u2019t on Smith\u2019s radar \u2014 he made music and wanted to be a rapper. But he started spending more time with Wilkins-Walker, who also serves as West\u2019s technology coordinator, and picked up some skills.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Smith doesn\u2019t need prompting to seize opportunities. By his senior year, he was an invaluable member of West\u2019s tech team, fixing Chromebooks and solving staff\u2019s IT issues. He worked for the district supporting other schools installing computer security systems and fixing broken hardware. He volunteered his services to other schools, and he held two separate internships with Penn, leading to his full-time post-graduation job. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s just been an amazing young man,\u201d said Wilkins-Walker.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Smith\u2019s resum\u00e9 is impressive but what sets him apart is his soft skills \u2014 he\u2019s the guy who, without prompting, makes the new student feel at home, speaks to everyone who walks in the room, and solves tech problems without making anyone feel less than.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>When Wilkins-Walker\u2019s own grandson began attending West, she wanted him to meet Smith, because she knew Smith would make the boy feel comfortable, and he did.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>It\u2019s not lost on Wilkins-Walker what Smith, as a young Black man in Philadelphia, might have become.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cFor our students, the line is so thin,\u201d said Wilkins-Walker. \u201cYou don\u2019t even sometimes know you\u2019re crossing over to the wrong side of the room \u2014 from friends or neighborhoods.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<h3>Keeping busy<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Opportunities are what set him apart from people from his West Philadelphia neighborhood who find themselves on the wrong side of that line, Smith said. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cKeeping busy, that\u2019s what\u2019s keeping me out of trouble,\u201d said Smith. \u201cYou got to kind something to keep you occupied. Certain people in certain environments, if they have time on their hands, it\u2019s tough. I grew up with them, they\u2019re still my friends, and I just try to tell them, do what I\u2019m doing.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Smith doesn\u2019t talk much about the dark times. He\u2019s more interested in the future, he said. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Smith and his mom both narrowly avoided crying on graduation day, he said, because of a mutual pact to stay away from tears. But earning his diploma has made him reflect on what he came through to get there.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=1025\">TMI owner says Pa. nuclear plant is on track to reopen next year<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cMs. Walker,\u201d he said, \u201cshe probably saved my life.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jayzen Smith, a recent graduate of West Philadelphia High, overcame housing and food insecurity. 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