Elizabeth Jackson, international studies and French junior, experienced a whole new world when she moved to Louisville in August 2005. Jackson was born in Trujillo, Peru.
When she was 2-years-old, her family moved to Lima, Peru, and her family still lives there today.
Jackson’s family was economically stable, so she said she had more opportunities than many Peruvian people.
“People assume every Hispanic is poor,” Jackson said.
Her parents were able to send her to an all-girl school that was run by Dominican nuns.
The school system in Peru is different from the United States. Children from kindergarten through the 12th grade are in the same building. Students usually graduate at 16 or 17 and then have to take an admission test to enter college.
“I always knew that I wanted to go to college,” Jackson said.
There are many other differences between the United States and Peru. In Peru, Jackson said most people use public transportation, there is no credit score and everyone is more family-oriented.
Jackson also said Americans are very busy compared to Peruvians.
Jackson had visited the United States before moving here permanently in 2005, through an exchange program.
Jackson said the purpose of the exchange program was to make her English better, and they assigned her to each city. Each trip was $5,000.
From ages 7 to 15, Jackson traveled every year to the United States and spent three months in a school. She has been to Montgomery, Al., New York City, Chicago and a few others.
“It was amazing,” Jackson said.
At 15, she came to Louisville to attend Southern High School and met her future husband, James.
Jackson said she was surprised that Louisville was “a completely different state.”
After the exchange program, Jackson returned to Peru. Later, her future husband moved to Peru, where he lived for a year.
“He really liked it,” Jackson said. “He wants to move there,” Jackson said.
Jackson and her husband moved back to Louisville when they got married. Jackson decided to come to IU Southeast because of the cost and her major was offered there.
“It’s cheaper than U of L,” Jackson said. “They offer a lot of disciplines in one major. I like the diversity
of it.”
When Jackson isn’t in the classroom, she’s probably involved with one of her many campus activities.
She is the vice president of Omicron Delta Kappa, a national leadership honor society.
She’s also a member of the Spanish club and the student dean of the Council of Arts and Letters.
She also helps out with the IUS Civil Liberties Union. Julie Bland, president of the IUS Civil Liberties Union, said Jackson is valuable.
“[Jackson] does a good job because she’s in so many organizations,” Bland said. “She can help when we’re organizing an event.”
Jackson joined the Model Arab League this year. She will be representing Oman in February at Miami University of Ohio.
Jackson is also a mentor through the Access to Success program. She is assigned two freshmen students a year and provides guidance and support to them.
“I believe Elizabeth has been a good role model for her student mentees,” June Huggins, director of the Center for Mentoring, said. “She has a warm, engaging personality and is fully committed to assisting her students in their transition to college life here at IU Southeast.”
This is her second year being a mentor. When she came to IU Southeast, she was a mentee, which made her get into the program.
“My mentor was extremely supportive and I wanted to give that back,” Jackson said.
Jackson is also an office assistant in the School of Arts and Letters and volunteers at Head Start, where her 4-year-old daughter, Chiara, attends.
Jackson said she is able to do all of this because of her good organizational skills and wants to set an example to her daughter that you can achieve everything.
By AMANDA FRENCH
Staff Writer
aafrench@ius.edu