Jerica Johnson ’13
Class Year: 2013
Major at MC: Music & Organization Management
Senior Thesis Topic: “Music, Advertisements, and Marketing”
Current Town/City of Residence: Chattanooga, Tenn.Occupation: Talent Acquisition Manager, Hamilton County Schools
After graduating from Maryville College, I found myself back at the school that I loved working as an Admissions Counselor for 4 years. Currently I work for Hamilton County Schools in Chattanooga as a Talent Acquisition Manager. I am also on the leadership team for Tennessee Educators of Color Alliance for Chattanooga.
A typical day in the office can look very different, depending on the day and time of the year. However, typical activities include recruiting great teachers and leaders to the district, working with many of our residency partners and diving into data when I have the chance.
There are too many experiences to choose from! In my current role, the most exciting experience is when I find amazing teachers to come to our district and work with our highest need schools and they absolutely love the school and students that they serve. Building connections and relationships has been the best part of my professional experience.
MC prepared me for life by helping me find and understand what my passion is and now I’m doing what I love. Since our first year we heard about vocation. Over time, I understood that my vocation is not as an engineer or event manager. It was in the world of education. Being able to make a difference in the lives of students by recruiting great teachers to the district is important to me, as well as promoting the need and importance of diversity.
Since graduating and working at MC, what has made me proud is seeing the students that I worked with or recruited to MC go out and do amazing things. The change that most have created on the campus is inspiring and I knew that once they graduated they were going out to ‘do good on the largest possible scale’.
I’m actually introverted at times.
There are several memories that I have from MC. From being on the homecoming court with my friends and seeing my best friend win Homecoming Queen, to the Black Student Alliance’s haunted houses, and even orientation week my first year. But I think the best memory of all is graduation day. The day is full of excitement, but you’re also saying “see you later” (because it’s never truly a good bye) and thank you to professors that have supported you from day one.