Ms. Lakisha Clark

What do you like the most about your job?

“There is something different going on every day. It gives me an opportunity to do multiple things. I like to be involved. That gives me an opportunity to see all students not just those that might have been in my classroom but all the students that are on campus.”

What is the hardest part of your job?

“The hardest part is not having enough time to juggle all my responsibilities in a day. When students aren’t successful or they have emotional things going on, sometimes those are the things that are a little sad to me, but they also motivate me to be a resource for the students and to assist them.”

What is the favorite part of your day?

“The morning. In the morning, I get to see all the teachers coming in and after doing that, going out to the morning supervision where I get to see all the students coming in. People knowing exactly who you are, asking questions and building relationships.”

What has been the happiest moment of your life?

“My children. I have three step-children and one biological child. All of them are achievements.”

What is something you enjoy doing?

“A lot of family things. Traveling is the biggest thing. I like to travel not just within the United States, but around the world, and basic family time.”

What are some of your goals in life?

“To become more of an effective assistant principal, to learn more about the counseling aspect of it. To travel more and just to continue to increase my family time.”

Who has influenced you to become who you are right now?

“My great-grandmother and my grandmother. I had my great-grandmother in my life until I was in my late 20’s which most people don’t have. She has kind of molded me into the person that I am and my grandmother took over from there and continued. I lost her three years ago. They have always inspired me to do well. They always put those thoughts out there for me that ‘you will be successful’ to be determined. They were strong women. They taught me how to be a strong woman as well.”

What would you say to students who don’t know you?

“Just to introduce myself, I am Ms. Clark. I am the assistant principal of counseling. I am here to assist students with any aspects of counseling, learn about their grades if they are struggling in class, to show what support we have out there for them. If there is something that their counselor can’t answer—and that includes their college counselor—I am a resource for them as well. I am looking forward to handing them that diploma on graduation day.”

If you didn’t have this job, what else do you think you would be doing?

“I would probably be doing something in finance because I haven’t always been in education. I graduated with an MBA degree; my focus was law and finance at that point. Either an attorney or some type of business owner.”

What advice would you give to students?

“Never give up. Be persistent. One of the things I love to tell friends and family is that it is all about perspective, the way you think about something. If there is something that you are really interested in and that you want to pursue, keep the mind set that you can achieve it. And if you fall a little short, then that’s alright, at least you made that effort because you never want to wonder ‘What if I would’ve tried?’”