Intimidating? Probably. Misunderstood? Maybe.Although he was born in New York City, Ason Supreme has been an off-and-on resident of Cincinnati since he was two weeks old.
After graduating from Western Hills High School in 1994, Supreme first attended UC, studying Criminal Justice. He stayed at UC for two years and then opted to focus more on the full-time job he’d received at The Cincinnati Enquirer. Supreme began working in the Circulation Department for the Enquirer, and then moved into news, becoming a sports staffer and later a full-time reporter for other newspapers.
After working in journalism and television for about 10 years, Supreme decided that he was unsatisfied. But, to do what he wanted, he had to return to UC.
“I did so poorly my first time in college that I probably couldn’t transfer anywhere else anyway,” he said.
Supreme is now majoring in Education with hopes of becoming a middle school teacher of History, Language Arts, or Special Education. Outside of school, he still continues to use his journalistic talents.
Supreme is now a “special” freelance contributor for The Cincinnati Enquirer, where he covers high school sporting events across the greater Cincinnati Area.
He is also a business owner. He owns a small magazine, which RWC students Andrew Stritmatter and Jerrin Bennett helped him get off the ground.
When Supreme is not studying, writing, or at his regular full-time job involving at-risk children, Supreme is usually with his own three children. He even finds time to referee all types of athletic events from Little League football to varsity wrestling.
Supreme gave The Activist a few moments of his time to answer a few questions.
Activist: “Ason Supreme isn’t the name your parents gave you. Todd Bonds is. Why did you change it?”
Supreme: “Well, don’t get me wrong, Todd was a heckuva cat. But he died when I found knowledge of self.”
Activist: “Why do you want to be a teacher?”
Supreme: “I don’t want to offend anyone, but in my opinion, everybody who works in the school building should reflect the community of the students it serves. For example, you can’t have girls from Loveland teaching kids who live in Over-The-Rhine. That’s not going to work over the long haul, even though some might be great teachers. Then in three years, when that girl from Loveland has some experience, what’s she going to do? Go out to that suburban district, because now she’s got experience and they’ll hire her. It’s just a revolving door. That’s not the end-all, cure-all, but that’s a part of the reason why the schools are kind of shabby.”
Activist: “What is something people would be surprised to know about you?
Supreme: I watch the Fox News Channel damn near everyday. It’s sad, because I don’t agree with anything they say. It’s just good TV. All news channels have the same three characters: beautiful women; a non-threatening, non-intimidating ethnic male; and a smart-aleck, middle-aged white guy. When it comes to the latter, Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity are second to none.
Activist: “Why did you decide to leave the field of journalism?”
Supreme: “I left journalism on a full-time basis because I didn’t feel like I was making a substantial contribution to society. I’m probably missing out on a decent amount of coin in salary right now by going back to school. Teachers don’t make much, so I won’t be able to recoup it, either. But any knucklehead can write. In journalism, you have to appease your advertisers. A lot of these papers don’t do stories that really affect the people. A lot of the stories are just party and ‘BS’ stories, and that kind of burned me out.”
Activist: “What do you plan on doing after you get your degree?”
Supreme: “I want to go teach and coach a junior high school team. I’ll try and find a way to start my own school. We had to write a self-fulfilling prophecy in one of my education classes, and that’s what I said I want to do–start my own school. I’m going to do that.”
Activist: “Why do you want to start your own school?”
Supreme: “I want to start my own school because if anything goes wrong with it, with the pupils, I know it’s my fault. Basically I want to make sure it’s done my way, and I think I have a better way to educate the kids than the way it’s being done. Now, there are people far smarter than I, who’ve probably tried something different. But I would like to think I know the kids I want to serve.”
[For suggestions on future “Feature Students” email Cedric Brown at brock@email.uc.edu.]