About Maasai Haile Jones
Early years: Maasai was born at Stanford hospital, on January 19, 1998. He lived with his parents and brother in San Jose his entire life. As an infant and then as a toddler, he was an extremely energetic child. He was a prolific climber from an early age; and could scarcely be contained within cribs, play pens, or backyards.
As he grew older, we were able to channel all this insuppressible energy into a number of sports.
He attended Action Day Care, then Ballard Montessori, then the Village school, near our home. He was well loved by his teachers for his intellectual curiosity, his artistic skill, and his overall sweet demeanor.
Middle School: Maasai attended Monroe Middle school. He was already a voracious reader, and he began recommending literature to his parents and friends around then. Some of his favorite’s were: The Ranger’s Apprentice, Harry Potter, Divergent, The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, The House of the Scorpion, and Eragon. He delved into the classics also; and read lots of Frank Herbert, Isaac Asimov, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Terry Pratchet.
He also hiked and camped with his family at some of the most beautful parks in California and Oregon: Yosemite, Point Reyes, Big Basin, Big Sur, Crater Lake, Forest of Nicene St Marks, China Camp, and many others.
His gymnastics career was in full bloom by then also. Although he excelled in many aspects of the sport, the gymnastic’s parents especially enjoyed his parallel bars routine: someone once said, its like he enters a zen state when he starts; and the trance doesn’t let him go until he completes a flawless routine.
He’d always loved games of all types; and Maasai spearheaded
the Jones’ family foray into the world of Magic The Gathering.
(MTG). They spent many weekends at Game Castle, playing MTG
and other advanced strategy games.
High School: Maasai matriculated at Bellarmine Prep High School. He honed his academic skills here over 4 years.
School was challenging, and he may have wanted to quit a few times; but he worked hard and was rewarded by being invited to
the writer’s club during his senior year; and given a chance to read some of his poetry to the student body.
He was president of the BSU in his senior year, and was afforded many opportunities to interact with other college-age black students.
Maasai traveled with his family most summers during these years, especially to connect with his Mom’s family in Fiji,
and his Dad’s folks on the east coast.
During this time, his taste in literature gravitated towards Richard Wright, Malcolm X, Langston Hughes, and Nikki Giovanni.
College: Maasai decided to attend Hofstra, after resonating with their media department during a visit. He wanted to be near New York, with all the stimulation, opportunity, and sense of adventure that came with being in the big city.
He was a member of the honors college, and earned a partial scholarship from the university. During his time at Hofstra, he earned a few awards forhis writing, and critical approval from several of his professors.
He spent alot of time with his east coast family in New York and Connecticut, enjoyed spring break down at Palm Beach; and traveled to both Barbados and Bahamas.
He continued to create music, a past time he’d started in high school. He had several performances in smaller venues, during his college days.