Recently 2019 alum and former editor in chief, Jada Hallman came to West to talk about her journey during and after high school. Hallman is currently a communications consultant for Kaiser Permanente. She received her master’s and bachelor’s degree from Stanford University.

I asked Hallman what advice she has for graduating seniors. She said “My biggest piece of advice is to just say yes to everything and any opportunity. Even if you don’t end up liking it, you’ll never regret trying and finding out more things about yourself.”

She also mentioned how she has no regrets. She said, “Everything I’ve done has gotten me to where I am today.” This mindset can keep your life optimistic and can give you that sense of growth. She did however mention her frustration with COVID hitting her freshman year of college and how she focused so hard on her studies that ended up benefiting her career, taking bad situations and turning them into good. p

She was asked about the main differences between high school and college. Hallman stated, “High school was very demanding of my time. All the homework/classwork and practices or club meetings did take up a lot of time. So, when I got to college my schedule was more spaced out and I had less assignments, they just happened to be bigger and worth more of my grade.” She also mentioned that doing all she did in high school almost made college easier to navigate.

Her last bit of advice was this: “It’s always important to connect with everyone around you of all backgrounds. You’ll find your people!”