Q & A with Jojo Williams. Corcoran Class of 2021

Q & A with jojo Williams. Corcoran Class of 2021

Raquan Pride-Green | raquanspg@therisemedia.net

Angel L. Williams, better known as Jojo, is an 18-year-old high school senior who lives on the south side of Syracuse, NY. He currently attends Corcoran High School where he plays football and basketball. He got the name Jojo from his aunt Erica because all of the other kids around him had a nickname and she felt compelled to find him one. She chose the name “Jojo” because the way Angel is pronounced in their family sounds like Joe at the end. Jojo, who is also a master video gamer, will graduate in June. He has a younger brother who is an eighth grader at an SCSD school, 2 older brothers who graduated from Corcoran High School, and both of his parents are SCSD graduates from Henninger High School.

Q. What's it like being a senior during a pandemic?

A. It is trash because you can’t be in school and you can’t play sports. There are other reasons but those are the main ones that comes to mind right away.

Q. What do u miss most about school prior to COVID-19?

A. What I miss most is just being around the Corcoran atmosphere.

Q. What are you happy to see removed from your day-to-day schedule due to COVID-19?

A. I am happy about not having a full schedule every day and I appreciate not having to wake up every day at 7am to get ready for school.

Q. What’s next after graduation? (What colleges have you applied to and why?)

A. After graduation I hope to go to college to play football and to further my education and continue my athletic career. I have not applied to any colleges yet because I am still going through the recruitment process. I have been contacted by a lot of schools such as Southern Connecticut, Western Connecticut, Utica College, Allegheny College, Hobart, and Louisiana Tech. I believe that I am a division 1 player but I haven’t gotten the exposure that I need to showcase my talents. I had season ending surgery on my ACL last football season and COVID-19 has robbed us of this season. I hope that we are allowed to have a football season this spring so that I can get another opportunity to show what I can do on the field but we will see what happens.

Q. If you could get a do-over for your senior year under ideal circumstances would you take it?

A. Yes I would, because I just want to be in school. I don’t like doing online work, it’s frustrating. There’s too many opportunities for miscommunication. Sometimes I don’t know when assignments are due and I have to ask the teachers to extend the due dates because I might have missed it. Thankfully they have been willing to accommodate and support.

Q. Has COVID-19 changed your views on life, if so, how?

A. COVID basically showed me that I have to do things myself and that I can’t depend on other people to help me to get to where I want to be in life.

Q.What is the biggest lesson you learned this year?

A. I learned that I have to push myself to be the greatest that I can be no matter what.

Q. What did you learn about yourself this year?

A. I learned that I could overcome any obstacle.

Q. Who/What are you most thankful for?

A. My family, mostly my mother, but my mother and brothers have been there for me since day 1.

Q. How do you think the prom and graduation should be structured compared to last year?

A. I think it should be back to regular programming but only time can tell what is going to happen so I don’t know how it’s going to be.

Q. What will you remember most about your senior year?

A. Frustration, but I have to keep working hard because I can’t depend on somebody else to get the job done.

Final Statement.

I encourage everyone to get the job done instead of depending on others and to keep their heads up.