Quanae
Miller
Student Life Editor
Students have mixed feelings about having Ambassadors, also referred to as Yellow Jackets, on campus. Some students assume they have a background in the police force and find them annoying while others genuinely appreciate their presence on campus.
The yellow jackets were an organization put in place by Mr. Metke. There were a lot of random people walking around campus, disturbing students, and causing trouble. To put an end to that Mr. Metke put in place the yellow Jackets. Most of the yellow jackets are elders or preachers in local churches.
Issac Jenkins, a Yellow Jacket and pastor at Taking Dominion Ministry Training Center, said that before the Yellow Jackets were on campus students were able to do whatever they wanted. He said that there were a great deal of people who didn’t go to TJC wandering on campus. There wasn’t much security.
The Yellow Jacket program was a solution to that problem. The Yellow Jackets were put in place to ensure extra security and be an extra set of eyes and ears on campus to make sure anyone with ill intent was spotted in a more timely fashion.
They all have varying backgrounds but none of them are police officers. They are here to protect students on campus by making sure that anyone who doesn’t belong on campus stays off campus. They’re able to ensure safety by stopping students on their way to class to make sure they have an ID and that they have the ID on a lanyard around their neck.
If you’ve forgotten your ID in your room, car, or have lost your ID and haven’t had time to replace it they will give you a day pass and allow you to proceed to class. And if you have an ID but your lanyard has broken you can ask them for a new lanyard and they’ll give you one free of charge.
Aside from protecting students on campus, the yellow jackets are on campus to provide an encouraging word and help guide you in the right direction, a direction you may not have even known you wanted to take.
Their personal missions go far beyond making sure you’re abiding by the rules, they want you to succeed academically, advance your thinking, and just enjoy life.
Billie Cooks, a Yellow Jacket, is an Elder at Higher Dimensions Ministry. She says she enjoys conversing with the students on campus and try to make sure they do well in their studies and in life.
Cooks went on to say that when a student is struggling with life issues varying from depression to suicidal thoughts, she’s there to listen. “The person in the yellow jacket(s) is not just there to give you a day pass but also there to hear what’s going on with you and to maybe redirect the situation you’re going through,” said Cooks. Cooks says that now’s the time for students to mature and get a taste of what adulting is all about. She has encountered students from various backgrounds. Students that have to work to put themselves through school and students that still rely heavily on their parents handling all of their affairs. She says she is there to help redirect students into making better decisions that help them mature and succeed.
Jenkins says that interacting with the students on campus has kept him young. He says the youthfulness on campus continuously redirects a person’s thinking ‘of who you think you are’ because young people are able to live solely in the moment.
One of Jenkins’ main purposes is to help students expand their thinking. He enjoys asking students what their major is and what their passion is and finds that most students don’t follow their true passions because of what others say, such as saying they can’t make any money being an artist or an actress. His goal is to show students not to be linear in their thinking, you can truly do what makes you happy. Jenkins said, “ You have time to make mistakes, you can afford to fail forward.”
Though at times being stopped by a Yellow Jacket can be inconvenient they were put in place to protect you, to guide you. If you need someone to talk to or advice on a situation, don’t hesitate to stop and start a conversation. They’re here for you.
