Rising Above
By any account, Jada Williams’ senior year has been tough. However, despite facing housing instability and medical challenges, she was successful. Recognized for her genuine and heartfelt smile, she is a dedicated member of Kokomo High School’s girls varsity basketball team while maintaining a high level of academic achievement.
Williams began playing basketball as a freshman as a means to attend school in person. Due to COVID during her middle school years, she was a completely virtual, online student. Her father did not want her to attend in-person classes.
“My dad was very strict about it. But he loved basketball,” Williams says. “He is from Kokomo. The only way he would agree to let me go to in-person school is if I promised I would play basketball.
“I had never picked up a basketball. I was just doing it to make my dad happy. I got going and got better at it. I made friends and bonds. The team became family. I got to do something we all love to do together,” Williams adds.
This fall, things got rough for Williams and her family. In October, her father lost his job and because he was unable to pay other debts, the family lost their house. In addition, two weeks before Thanksgiving, Williams was diagnosed with acute appendicitis and pancreatitis.
Basketball season started, and her teammates picked Williams up and made sure she got to practices. After playing well in the first three games, she found herself in the hospital for a week after her appendix was removed. Still in a lot of pain and feeling weak, she was again transported to a hospital in Indianapolis due to pancreatitis.
“I was able to go to school one day before Thanksgiving break so I could get all my work,” she says. “I couldn’t eat solid food and had to be on a liquid diet. I couldn’t play in the next three games, but my coaches understood. They checked in with me and helped. My teachers helped too.”
Despite facing challenges, Williams is graduating with more than 30 hours of dual credits due to her advanced placement classes such as economics and Spanish. She has also taken dual-enrollment classes through Kokomo High School’s partnership with Ivy Tech Community College.
She would like to attend college and become an ultrasound technician or a labor and delivery nurse. She will not be playing basketball because she will have to work to support herself. She participated in Kokomo Leadership Academy, was named Most Improved Athlete and received her second varsity letter. She was also selected to be one of the commencement speakers at graduation.
“Even though I’ve been through all this stuff, I still love my parents. I wish things had been different. If I didn’t have faith, I don’t know what I would have done,” she says. “My advice is to never give up. Hard times can’t stop you; see them as a lesson.
