Imagine for a moment what the schedule of a college student looks like, now add Michigan State (NYS) Representative to that.

Jewell Jones is a 24-year old student at the University of Michigan at Dearborn, double majoring in Political Science and Business. Jones is also an auxiliary officer, National Guard Member, and Senior Deacon at his church. Serving his community is an act that Jones has always been familiar with since he was a young child.

“My parents got me involved in the church and community from early [on],” recalls Jones.

Before being elected into the Michigan House of Representatives, Jones was a member of the Inkster City Council where he was a part of the Inkster Task Force, the Inkster Youth Coalition, the Inkster Chamber of Commerce, and many more.

Now he gets to serve his people on a much larger scale as the State Representative for his hometown of Inkster. He serves the 11th State House District, which encompasses five cities. The process of running for office was a blur for Jones. He was prompted to run for office after Mayor Byron Nolen called him while at Fort Knox about the death of State Representative Julie Plawecki. After, Jones came back from training he found out about the race and soon got swept up in the running for office. “It wasn’t much of a choice it all just happened fast,” said Jones.

Jones attributes his motivation to everyone that he has come across. “I think we all can learn from everybody. I take what I can from everyone and make it apart of the fabric that is me” said Jones.

Although being a State Representative may be hard, there is something to be said for those who fully dedicate themselves to serving the public. For Jones, being in the state office allows him access to more resources so he can better be of service to his constituents.

“Just being able to help many folks out, we have a lot more resources to help people out from city to state council. It’s been a blessing because sometimes you want to help people out, and the resources keep growing as we continue to move forward” said Jones.

Jones has helped out on initiatives within his community particularly with young people ranging from elementary going all the way up to college.

“We’ve kept the conversation going in terms of legislation, we have gotten youth involved in the community and kept them involved from elementary to college,” said Jones.

Jones also supports another organization called the Neighborhood Hope Dealers, which works to create an umbrella of resources by collaborating with other non-profits and corporations. With a lot on his plate already, he still has goals that he is working towards completing.

A year from now, Jones would be happy to be done with his undergraduate year and getting real rate reductions in auto insurance by working in a non-bipartisan fashion with other stakeholders.

For those reading this, a year from now, you could be celebrating an accomplishment as well; for those looking to follow their dreams Jones has the following tip:

” Make your move before you’re ready. People want to support you, and you have time on your hands. As young people, it is important to exhaust all opportunities. It is important for us young folk to constantly experience life even if we know what we want it to do- just because it will better equip [us] for what we want to do further along down the road.”

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