Jamie Jacobs

Student

“I’ve gotten so much from my teachers at SMC. I don’t think the job is respected enough, but it’s just an exceptional profession.”

“I think what people need to do, when they come here, is to actually spend as much time as possible at the college,” advises Jamie Jacobs, who will graduate this June. “You should schedule your academic life intensely so you can really concentrate. And then you can have another life that isn't involved with school. I’m always studying in the library, the computer lab or the Learning Resource Center. And I find that by spending a lot of time at school, I’m actually more motivated.”

It’s Jamie’s goal to “get my Ph.D. and teach ethnic or women’s studies at the university level. Ethnic studies are important to me because I’m adopted and bi-racial, so I’ve never been quite certain about my identity. Ethnicity has always been in the forefront of my thoughts, so finding my way to cultural identity is fascinating to me.” To search out just who ‘Jamie Jacobs’ is, she recently took the extraordinary step of locating her birth mother. “I met her last year,” says Jamie. “She’s Norwegian and she told me that my father is Thai. Finding her was something that I had to do. And though it was beneficial, it's also had some traumatic repercussions. But I’m moving on.”

After career detours—such as being the host of a show on the SciFi Channel —Jamie is concentrated like a laser on becoming a teacher. “I want to lead a life of academia,” she says. “And by teaching at university level and specializing, I hope to lecture, travel and write. My passion is teaching,” she adds. “And I think I will bring a lot of value to that work. I’d like to think that I'm a person of balance and patience who will bring a wide diversity of experiences into the classroom.”

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