Goldsboro native could get shot as MTV2 star
By Kenneth Fine
Published in News on December 11, 2006 1:45 PM
Jeannetta Craigwell-Graham has come a long way since her days acting in "The Boyfriend" as a member of Stagestruck.
And with the help of her friends and neighbors in Wayne County, she could go even further.
The 22-year-old Eastern Wayne High School graduate was recently named a finalist in MTV2's local Video Jockey contest and is just a few votes away from representing Boston on the network for the next year.
"My roommate got a thing in the mail, like an advertisement she saw," Jeannetta said. "She suggested I try out. It was a spur of the moment kind of thing."
So, she spent some time away from her studies and got in line. And while as a teen, she thought she might one day entertain a career in show business, she never imagined she would best more than 500 others who tried out for the VJ job and make the final 10.
"I used to really want to do something like it," Jeannetta said. "But I kind of wanted to do more practical things first."
Playing it safe is what got her to Boston in the first place, she said. After graduating from Eastern Wayne, she received a degree from Wake Forest University.
From there, she moved up north -- to law school at Boston University. Not bad for a young woman from a small town, right?
"It's definitely cool," Jeannetta said. "You feel kind of alienated because people have never heard of where you're from. But big things can come from small places, too. I've had really different experiences than the people I have met at school. People are very fascinated with you if you're from the South."
Moving to a larger city and out of her comfort zone forced her to begin thinking in different ways -- taking risks like the MTV audition, she added.
"It feels very good," Jeannetta said. "I think, in a way, this has been a really surprising catalyst for me identifying with Goldsboro. When you're away from home and you have to tell people where you're from, it makes you really proud."
She's proud because she knows her accomplishments might set a positive example for other small town girls.
"You never know how you're going to change someone's life and change their perspective," she said. "Possibilities are infinite, regardless of where you come from."
Jeannetta said she hopes one of those possibilities is a victory in the VJ contest -- and that the people partly responsible for the woman she has become will pull her through.
The outcome will be available by Jan. 1, she added. And every vote counts.
So cast your vote at www.rcnboston.mtv2.com and help Jeannetta come out on top. A few hundred clicks of the mouse can go a long way for this Wayne County girl.