Jones High School has one saying and that is, “Here at Jones High, every student is college bound.” And that’s what motivates Jamie Butler.
Born and raised in Orlando, Jamie was a smart second grader who already showed signs of greatness. He was tested and asked to join his elementary school’s Gifted Program when he was 7- years-old.
But, life sometimes throws you curveballs, and in 5th grade, Jamie’s parents struggled financially. They had to move to Section 8 housing, a Federal housing program which provides assistance to low-income renters and homeowners.
To make matters worse, Jamie lost his father shortly after the family moved into their low-income digs and three days before his 13th birthday. Overnight, his mother Sylvia became a single mom and was left to take care of Jamie and his younger brother Willie, while continuing to struggle financially.
“My mother was always there, so I figured the least that I could do was to go to college and make her proud,” Jamie said.
Jamie did not let his life’s struggles stop him from reaching his goal. He is determined to go to college in hopes of a better future.
“My first goal is to make sure my mom has everything she wants,” Jamie said. “Her goal was to give us everything we needed, so now I want to give her everything she wants, and that is to better myself.”
Now a senior at Jones High School, Jamie fervently believes that education is the key to success. He is a member of 16 clubs and holds office in 8 of them. One of his big accomplishments is being president of the Student Government Association and giving back to the community.
Jamie started working in his sophomore year of high school at The Community Based Tutoring Center, to help with the bills at home. Today, he is president of a program designed to mentor middle and high school students at the center.
He got accepted to six colleges but plans on going to the University of Central Florida, to study electrical engineering in the fall. He has set his sights on one day becoming Governor of Florida.
Jamie believes that, notwithstanding what you might be going through, you have an obligation to make the best of it.
“That’s how life is,” he said. “As dawn breaks the sun is going to shine and there’s going to be a different tomorrow.”
For those who thought Jamie would become just another statistic, he laughs and shakes his head.
“Your future is not defined by what you are but who you are,” Jamie said. “The ‘what’ is your appearance and from where you have come, but the ‘who’ is your mind, character and integrity and that’s the only thing that can determine how far you will go.”
By Fernanda Barros
