Schools
Class Speaker Really Makes the Scene
Jolaina 'JoJo' Jesser one of two graduating seniors selected to speak at commencement.
Jolaina “JoJo” Jesser discovered the power of film making when she saw “Pay it Forward,” the 2000 drama starring Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt and Haley Joel Osment. It has so inspired her that when she enrolls at Boston University next year, she plans to double-major in film production and French.
“That was the first movie that made me realize that movies can really make an impact on you,” Jesser said. After I saw that movie I realized that movies could really inspire you. I noticed a big change in myself and how I thought after I saw that movie.”
Her movie-making penchant helped land her a spot at Saturday’s commencement from Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School as one of two Class Speakers, chosen by a committee of faculty members. “I was very excited to be picked,” she said.
“My speech is called ‘Scenes,’ ” Jesser said. “It’s about three different scenes from high school, different scenes that people go through at high school and what we can learn from them for the future.”
She’ll have pretty busy summer before shipping off to Boston.
“This summer at the end of June I’m going on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic. I’m going to be out in the field working with Haitian refugees there. And then I’m just gonna be working (at the Mail Hub) and and hanging out with my friends for most of the rest of the summer before I go to college.”
She’ll be going to Boston University in the fall, where she will be double-majoring in the aforementioned film production and French. The thought of producing a foreign film appealed to her. “I love French and I love films, so maybe I’ll use the two together,” she said.
“I just love communication and storytelling,” Jesser said. “I just love movies, I was always really interested in it, and then in high school I got involved with our BeeTV, it’s like our television station where we do the announcements in the morning and put stuff together. I just got really involved with that, and I like it a lot, so I decided I want to keep on (doing it).”