Jayden Kass, 20, has many skills that make her a successful journalist, stylist and beyond. Graduating from Suffolk County Community College in May 2025 with a degree in journalism, Kass plans to use what she learned in a specific way that pertains to her.
“I could take my journalism degree and write about fashion,” she mused. “Now I know how to start a blog, I know how to make a website, I know how to do all the basic stuff that journalists need to know.”
During her time at SCCC, she was the managing editor of Compass News. The responsibility of co-running the paper was intense, but also taught her lessons that she would carry with her throughout her career.
“When I was managing editor, it showed me what it could look like owning something on my own. I’m hoping to, in the future, run my own business. Having that job here definitely put me in the right mindset of, okay, this is what I have to do to prevent burn-out.”
Along with knowledge and guidance, it also instilled confidence within her, “It gave me a sense of approval that somebody trusted me enough as a 20-year-old in college with a key to an office to sit in this desk and run literally everything for this website. So if I can do that with as little supervision as I had, who’s to say I can’t do it without supervision?”
Aside from finishing up classes at SCCC, she also attends Long Island Beauty School in Hauppauge. In cosmetics, she’s most interested in hair and the culture behind it. As a young girl, she learned to braid, starting with the simplistics, and working her way up.
“I was in the fourth grade,” she remembered. “The first thing I ever learned how to do was braiding; french braids, fishtail braids, I just kind of took off with it.”
Getting into cosmetology school was easier for her because of her job. Working at a salon has its perks– securing Kass a payment plan that would land her assuredly in the Long Island Beauty School, or LIBS, program.
Kass plans to use her interest in journalism, cosmetology and photography in her future job, “I want to use all three of those in some form of a way. Whether that’s traveling around and writing about different cultures of hair, or writing for Vogue.”
