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This Herc Scholar is one step closer to becoming a neurosurgeon

May 23, 2019 by abolden

Hometown: Lima, Ohio
Major: Biology (Pre-Med)
Classification: Senior
Motto: “Stay focused and never give up”

Congratulations to Perkins Jackson, our Hercules Scholar of the week for our May School of the Month, Huston-Tillotson University. Perkins has been selected as this week’s recipient of the $1,500 scholarship from the Tom Joyner Foundation.

This young man has an inspiring story and a clear goal of attending Morehouse School of Medicine to become a future neurosurgeon. Not only is he very involved at home and on campus, Perkins is a true testament of HBCU support. He greatly appreciates HT for being the catalyst that has placed him on the right road for success. Two of the most influential people in his life are administrators at HT. Read more about Perkins below, in his own words.

 

My plans after graduation are simple, I plan on continuing my education at Morehouse School of Medicine. While attending Morehouse I plan on becoming a Neurosurgeon. This is the path I have chosen for myself since I was a child. There are not a lot of African Americans who pursue this field. I have always had a fascination with the human brain. The brain is a very complex and fragile system. To have the power/ responsibility for someone to put their life in my hand to perform surgery is a dream to me. The first step for me to achieve my goal was to attend Huston-Tillotson University. HTU has done nothing but better me for the road ahead, through various means such as, connections, leadership, family, and drive to continue to go on no matter how hard the road before me.

I want to be able to go back home and give back to my community because my community raised me. I am a product of my environment and I am ready to change the notion of black man in my city.  I am involved in many different organizations and groups, not just on campus, but also at home. I am currently a coach for the C2K Striders. I also am apart of three different honor societies, which are Golden Key, National Honor Society, and  Beta Kappa Chi Scientific Honor Society. I am also a W.E.B. DuBois Scholar as well. On campus I am part of many different organizations such as, M.A.P.S medical program, Green is the New Black, Resident Life as a Resident Assistant, and also the Center of Academic Excellence as a Peer Learning Consultant (Tutor).

In my life, many people have been influential to me. First off my parents Christopher and Frenjula Jackson have pushed me to be the best I can be throughout life in any thing I have been a part of. My little brother Zion Jackson is also influential to me because I want to show him the right path and be a role model to him. At HTU the most influential person to me is President Colette Pierce Burnette. Immediately when I first came to HTU as a freshman, President Burnette took me under her wing due to both of us being from Ohio. She immediately became a mother figure to me on campus. Another person who was very influential to me is Autumn Caviness, who is both the person in charge of the W.E.B. DuBois Honors program and also the head of the Center of Academic Excellence. My sophomore year I began to suffer from a lot of family problems back home and slipped into a depression and decided I was done with school. I took a semester off from school and got a call from Ms. Caviness asking me what my future plans were and I told her that I was done with school and she shut that idea down immediately and told me to return to HTU. And it was the best decision of my life. The motto I live by is to always see it through.

 

Congratulations Perkins! The future looks bright.

Leave a word of encouragement for this Herc Scholar by commenting below.

Support more HBCU scholars like Perkins by making a donation today.

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