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Special to VivaLoudoun.com
Purcellville (May 14, 2010) - Robert Jackson, a senior at Loudoun Valley High School, has become the fourth Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) student to win a Gates Millennium Scholarship.
Offered through the United Negro College Fund, the Gates Millennium Scholarship originated in 1999 through a $1.6 billion grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Thus far, 13,000 students have been awarded this scholarship, which pays for a student's complete college education. Nationwide, 1,000 students were awarded the Gates Millennium Scholarship this year.
Jackson's scholarship will pay his $56,000-per-year tuition to Georgetown University.
Jackson's guidance counselor is Charles Smith, who has mentored all four of the LCPS students who have received a Gates Millennium Scholarship.
“When I got it, it didn't feel like it was real,” said Jackson. “It was like when I got into Georgetown; I kept looking at the paper and thinking how it was going to evaporate because it wasn't real.”
Jackson maintains a 4.13 grade point average (GPA) at Valley, served as captain of the football and track teams, was a member of the lacrosse team, a student School Board representative, an active volunteer with Purcellville Baptist Church and is active in the Student Council Association (SCA) and Spanish Honor Society.
Despite this impressive resume, Jackson is a soft-spoken young man who says academics have always been first among his priorities.
“Academics are something my parents have stressed and that I've taken seriously as far back as I can remember. I've been hard on myself as far as any kind of failure; something I might deem as a failure that others may not. I don't always get A's, but I always put all of my effort into it.”
While academics are his priority, sports are Jackson's love.
“Anything I can get my hands on: football, track, lacrosse – try to find new avenues to be a leader.”
Leadership is a big part of winning a Gates Millennium Scholarship, he added. “That's something that I felt came naturally to me, leading through example, leading through not being a hypocrite.
“I'm going to tell you one time and I'm going to show you the rest of the time.”
Jackson said he has an excellent role model in his father, Robert Jackson Jr.
“He's taught me what it means to be a good young man and basically to work hard for everything you want; always respect people no matter what, because you don't know who they are. He's done that more through his actions than just saying it to me.”
Robert Jackson Jr. started a business, Amazing Athletes, a few years ago through which he teaches children sports and athletic training. “It was rocky at first, but he stuck with it and that was really motivation for me to stick through anything,” said Jackson. Even though his father wasn't making as much money as he made in the corporate world, Jackson said he worked through the hard times and now things are getting better.
Jackson's parents are divorced. His mother, Lisa, is a phlebotomist living in Delaware with his younger brother, Jason. Jackson said his mother was emotional when she learned he had received a Gates Millennium Scholarship. “I told her over the phone and she was ecstatic. She hadn't told me, but it was clear that she was worried about paying for me to go to Georgetown. She was working extra hard and so was my dad. When they both found out, they had a great relief.”
Jackson's parents weren't the only ones worried about how he'd pay for Georgetown. “It was something I was worried about, but I had the odd feeling it was in God's hands. It was a conflict about me worrying...and trusting in my soul that everything was going to be OK.”
Jackson participated in the CAMPUS program, an academic and college preparation program designed to meet the specific needs of historically underrepresented students and first-generation college students in Loudoun County. He said CAMPUS and its sponsor, Kristi Lincicome, were keys to his development.
“CAMPUS epitomizes what high school should be about. It's a balance of your work and the guidance of others to promote you to your highest level or potential at this stage...
“It's not graded and there is no 100 percent curriculum. It is what you make of it.”
Jackson said he was impressed when a previous group of CAMPUS seniors at Valley had virtually all of its college paid for and were able to go on and be successful in college. “That really motivated me to stay there...When you're able to see the success of seniors who stuck with it...it's motivational; your time will come.”
(Jackson said he particularly remembered Nekisha Grigsby, who won a Gates scholarship in 2008. “At that moment it was something I wanted.”)
Lincicome, who wrote five essays to the Gates selection committee on Jackson's behalf, has been his teacher since he was a sophomore. “All teachers are passionate, but, there's something different about her.”
Other Valley teachers whom Jackson said were influential in his development were Doug Livesay, Carrie Perry and Bruce Sheppard. It's clear talking to Jackson that Valley holds a very special place in his heart.
“These people here really care about you and you can tell that. There's sincerity in the walls of this school; every teacher, whether you're their student or not, they do care about you...
“I could go anywhere and learn history, English or science, but I don't think I'd have the same relationships I have with teachers here and the students as well...
“Loudoun Valley has allowed me to grow more than I could at any other school.”
Jackson lived in Fairfax and Sterling before coming to the Purcellville area as a seventh-grader. His father moved him without telling him first, and Jackson admitted he didn't like his new home right away. “I was a little mad at first.”
That anger quickly turned into a passion to seek new opportunities.
Another influence has been Purcellville Baptist Youth Pastor Cory Welch, who taught Jackson the value of volunteering and serving others. Through his church, Jackson has helped the homeless in Washington, D.C.
“The biggest stretch of my service was going to China and teaching English to Chinese students, and Christianity at the same time, not knowing any Chinese and being scared. It was scary, but it was worth it.”
Jackson summed up what his formal education and the people who have influenced him have taught him.
“I've learned to trust...
“I used to be a lot more selfish. I wanted to be the center of attention...I've learned that you can be the center, but you have to use that for something bigger than yourself. That's something I learned through charity and being out here that I didn't understand when I was younger
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