Humans of Cranston is a recurring column showcasing the stories of Cranston residents’ community involvement, diversity, and unique life perspectives.

Jeny Daniels (she/her/hers) is a recent Cranston East graduate and incoming URI freshman with a passion for theater, art, horror films, and all things creative.

“At URI I’m going to be studying secondary English education, so I’m going to be a high school English teacher. I’m excited for the experience that it’s going to be, ‘cause I’m not really sure what to expect.

I actually liked all of my English teachers … and they’re the reasons why I wanted to go into teaching, because growing up, I’ve always read books and been interested in diving deep into novels, so having English teachers who were also willing to help me push forward in that was, I think, inspiring. … in Cranston, I got to connect with my teachers, like I still talk to my elementary teachers today; they still recognize me and are like, “oh, hi Jeny!” and they give me hugs and stuff and I think that’s really cool.

I’m excited for the representation aspect of being an English teacher. Like, growing up I never really had teachers who looked like me, like being African American, I had like, maybe two teachers from elementary school to high school that looked like me, but I didn’t have them as teachers and they weren’t English teachers, so I think the representation aspect is something that’s really driving me to go into English teaching ‘cause I’m showing that if I can do it, then so can other students who want to go into teaching or go into other careers. It’s possible. That’s what I’m excited for.

I’ve noticed that within my community, there are more people representing their beliefs that they have outside of their homes, like people have pride flags and Black Lives Matter flags, so I think that’s really cool and that makes me optimistic for the future. Like, even though they’re not *saying* it, I know that they’re still on my side, or that they’re still supporting me.”

This project has been made possible by a Rhode Island Foundation Community Grant, and the efforts of the OneCranston Health Equity Zone of Comprehensive Community Action, Inc. in partnership with the Cranston Herald and Timothy McFate. Want to nominate a Cranston resident to be featured? Email JB at jfulbright@comcap.org.