Jayla Watson didn’t think much about pursuing a college education in high school.

“I didn’t take academics seriously,” she says. “But, my senior year I saw all my friends were applying to colleges. I didn’t even know if I wanted to go. At that point, I realized I had to do something. I looked at the situation around me. I wanted to be better for myself and for my family.  These days, you have to have some education under your belt to be successful.”

Jayla first looked at Wake Tech but realized she didn’t have reliable transportation to get there every day. She didn’t like the idea of taking all her classes online. That is when a friend recommended Louisburg College. So, Jayla looked into it, made her mind up to apply and was accepted.

The first time she stepped on campus was during an orientation day and she was pleasantly surprised. “I didn’t expect it to be like this. The campus was really pretty and all the housing advisors were friendly and helpful.”

When it came to academics, Jayla took advantage of all the help Louisburg offered her and really paid attention to her developmental writing class and pre-requisite math. 

“The first semester I got a 3.0!”  It was a huge change from her high school days.

After that, things just clicked for Jayla. She got involved in an on-campus theater program during her second semester, where she performed in the play Macbeth. Jayla fondly remembers that as her favorite memory, “It was such a fun experience. That was also the first time I became really social.”

From there, Jayla landed a position as a campus resident advisor (RA) and started thinking about life after Louisburg.

It was the right decision to go here versus attend a four-year school right away and be in a class with hundreds of students with a professor that may not even know your name.

Her grade point average kept climbing with the finish of every semester, so she set her sights on Howard University in Washington, D.C. “I didn’t really think they wanted me. It took [Howard] a month and a half before they got back to me. I got the acceptance letter the day before my birthday. I was in the library when I opened it and I started crying. It was a relief… like wow, I really did it! I got into Howard University.”

Jayla knows she would not be heading to the Nation’s Capital without her start at Louisburg College, “It definitely helped me. The classes were smaller here than other institutions. There was a lot of one-on-one help from the teachers. It was the right decision to go here versus attend a four-year school right away and be in a class with hundreds of students with a professor that may not even know your name.”

Jayla plans to major in Communication at Howard University and is interested in pursuing a career in public relations.