Hanging 10ft above the ground, illuminating the street, was a piercing blue light.
A few boarded houses down that block, with a trash can chained to its front gate, was Jonathan Smith’s grandmother’s house & his home for the past six years.
He concurrently lives on Towson University’s campus, where he’s been attending school since Fall 2007. But frequently visiting his grandmother reminds him of his childhood: She pushes him to work harder for his community and to make a better life for himself.
“I come here in the summers and on holidays when school is closed, and the trash cans have to be chained so that people don’t steel them,”said Mr. Smith explaining what it’s like living at his grandmother’s house. “The blue lights are used to monitor drug action on this street and are placed throughout Baltimore city at the corners of certain street intersections.”
Mr. Smith moved out of his parents’ house to help his grandparents during high school and has lived here ever since. “I lived here when I was younger and typically chilled with my grandparents and listened to there advice. I didn’t talk to many people my age.”
In high school Mr. Smith was in the top 10% of his class and on the national honor society. And for after school activities he wrestled, played football, and ran cross country. He accomplished all this while attending an underprivileged school in Baltimore, MD.
Realizing back then that he’s always taken the road less traveled, Mr. Smith decided to go to college. Education was never that far from home considering Mr. Smith’s mother is a teacher herself.“I’m extremely close with my mom,” said Mr. Smith.
His mother was diagnosed with Mesothelioma cancer which she’d caught from Asbestos. “She made a full recovery, and most people wouldn’t even know how sick she was,” said Mr. Smith. His mother lost weight and some of her hair, but showed off a stunning new look at her 50th birthday party.
Mr. Smith’s father is a FedEx worker and struggled to make ends meet when his mother was going through surgery. But now she gets disability which makes their finances a bit better.
Mr. Smith’s faith has played a major role in getting him through tumultuous times. Currently, he balances dancing at church with his newly found responsibilities: Black Student Union (BSU), fashion show, and the manager for a modern dance group called allure.
Other obligations and requirements that takes up his time are for his CEEP scholarship, which awards community enrichment and enhancement. For this scholarship he has to attend diversity events and complete a grad school workshop, amongst other things.
But Mr. Smith is no stranger to helping the community. Just take a look at the video above!
Mr. Smith has done a lot but admits that he couldn’t balance everything during his freshmen year, and his grades slipped. Although he is doing much better now, he has picked up a double major with sports management and physical training.
“I had a time management problem when I first came here but I’ve gotten things back on track, especially with the motivation of my grandmother,” said Mr. Smith.
Nice story, David. As usual, great video. Glad to see you’re keeping the blog up. Good luck to Jonathan as he volunteers next summer and learns to waterski!