Whatever the task, Simone Watson was up for the challenge. The Clark Atlanta University graduate student was so driven, friends and family would feel compelled to hop on and take the ride with her.
“She pushed us all, because she was so motivated,” said Tyonia Wright, of Decatur. “She really forced everybody else around her to pay attention to their grades because of the grades she got.”
As a teenager, Ms. Watson was diagnosed with lupus, said her sister, Tiffany Watson, of Los Angeles. But she never used the sometimes painful condition as an excuse to slack in her academic work.
“She would always work through it,” her sister said.
And that was still her attitude during her last semester in a five-year program at Clark Atlanta that would allow her to earn a bachelor’s and master’s degree upon graduation.
Days after she took her final exam, Simone Michelle Watson, of Atlanta, died May 5 from complications of lupus. She was 22. A funeral service was held Saturday in her hometown of Chicago, Ill. Unique Funeral Home, Chicago, was in charge of arrangements.
Ms. Watson’s mother and sister will attend Clark Atlanta’s graduation on May 21 to accept her degrees. At the university, Ms. Watson was a presidential scholar and a member of several campus organizations, including a number of honors societies. As a student, Ms. Watson also interned at both the City of Chicago’s Finance Department and Wells Fargo.
“Simone was a student who did what she could right now, and didn’t wait,” said Charles T. Moses, acting dean of the business school at Clark Atlanta. “She was known around campus for her math tutoring and there are a number students who have realized success in math because she helped them.”
And she was sought out because she was so smart, said friend and classmate Shelley Smith, of Atlanta.
“We found out pretty quickly that she was the smartest person in the class,” she said with a laugh. “And many of us aspired to be like her.”
Of the eight students in the five-year accounting program set to graduate in 2012, Ms. Watson was “the glue who held us together,” Ms. Smith said. “She was the most compassionate, intelligent friend you could have.”
During her five years at Clark Atlanta, Ms. Watson made one B, which was devastating, her sister said. Her undergraduate grade point average was 3.97 and she maintained a 4.0 during her graduate-level studies, Dr. Moses said.
Ms. Watson’s future plans included doctoral level studies, sitting for the Certified Public Accountant’s exam, pursuing a doctoral degree and teaching on a college level.
“She would have done it all,” her sister said. “She could have done it all.”
Ms. Watson is also survived by her mother Cassandra Watson of Chicago; her father, Raynard Watson, Sr.; and four brothers.
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