Student Spotlight: Meet Kajiha Reed from Gary Comer College Prep

Kahjia Reed, a student at Gary Comer College Prep in Chicago, IL, poses with her favorite sports jersey in the hallway. She is a young woman with dark brown skin, black locs pulled into a low ponytail, and glasses. She is wearing a Steelers jersey and holding it up by the shoulders, smiling.

Published On: December 9th, 2024Categories: 2024, Academics at Noble, Campus Life, Gary Comer College Prep, Students

Kajiha Reed, a 12th-grader at Gary Comer College Prep, loves learning the Mandarin language. She started learning the language while at the middle school site and has continued with her high school classes. Last year, she even participated in a nationwide speech contest for Mandarin students.

Overall, Kajiha is known for being a leader in her Mandarin classes, often being the first “go-to” for her peers when they need help.

“She teaches you the material and guides you to finding the answers without just handing them to you,” Steven Williams, one of her classmates, said.

GCCP’s Mandarin teacher, Teshurah Lee, noticed her passion and talent for the language and encouraged her to enter The National Chinese Speech Contest last year. The competition is for Mandarin students across the U.S. and Canada to demonstrate their competency in and love of the language. Each student prepares a speech in Mandarin based on the theme and their language proficiency. High school students have to create a 2-3 minute speech. Kajiha was more than happy to rise to the challenge.

She spent countless hours after school writing and practicing her speech, all while juggling her other activities and responsibilities. She focused her speech on the impact that the Chinese language has on her life.

“I chose this topic because I’ve grown to love the culture and the language—from learning how to eat with chopsticks and more,” Kajiha said.

For Kajiha, the most challenging part of preparing her speech was making sure that she was pronouncing her words correctly. Consistently practicing after school helped her tremendously, she said. She also credits the support of Lee.

“Ms. Lee has pushed me to become better in Mandarin. From office hours to in-class support, she is the best,” Kajiha said.

Kahjia receiving help from Ms. Lee during Mandarin class at Gary Comer College Prep. Ms. Lee is kneeling at Kahjia's desk in a bright classroom and writing something on a paper.

Kahjia getting help from Lee during Mandarin class.

By the time the competition came around in February, Kajiha was ready. She hopped on the Zoom call and delivered her speech in fluent Mandarin. She even ended up receiving an honorable mention during the competition. Lee was so proud of her.

“Kajiha did amazing! She was confident in her speech and all of her work paid off,” Lee said.

This year, Kajiha hopes to continue her focus on mastering Mandarin both orally and on paper. Learning new languages is also another goal for her. Her dedication to learning inspires Lee.

“She meets challenges as opportunities for growth and makes us all proud to be Catamounts,” Lee said.

While Kajiha hasn’t decided on a college or field of study yet, she is working extremely hard to figure out what is right for her. What she does know is that she wants to incorporate learning as many languages as she can because of the impact her Mandarin classes have left on her.

“Mandarin has changed my life. It is now a part of me, and it makes me want to learn more languages and cultures in the world,” Kajiha said.