Ashling Jackson
Year: Freshman
Age: Eighteen
Hometown: Brentwood, Tennessee — the suburbs about 20 minutes south of Nashville.
major: Creative Writing and Literature
Did you have a valentine?
Yes, my Valentine this year (and the past three) was my boyfriend, Jonas Fein, who’s a student at University of Florida.
What did you do for valentines day?
Jonas came to visit for the weekend — he brought me flowers on Friday and took me out for a nice dinner downtown at Bella Brava on Saturday night.
What is your favorite part about eckerd?
I love how unique of an experience it is that we all share here. Anytime you talk with someone who know’s what it’s like they say, “Oh, that’s so Eckerd.” It’s not something that every college can say, since so they’re so big and there aren’t as many little things that people share. Here we have a waterfront and a beach, everyone’s outside all the time on the weekends, — it’s those kinds of things that make our experience here really awesome — we’re a close community, and that means that pretty much anyone can make something happen.
What activities are you involved in at Eckerd?
I just became the stage manager for theatre department’s spring production of Eurydice and I am also a board member for the Food Recovery Network, a member of Eckerd’s Emerging Leaders (EEL), and an editorial assistant on the Eckerd Review Literary Magazine.
If you could have any pet (even if it’s not eckerd approved haha) what would it be?
Well it’s not terribly exotic, but I actually have a cat, Leo, waiting at home to come join me here next year! He’s really crazy and loves to get outside, so he’ll probably be out and about with me a lot.
What is your favorite book?
If I had to pick, I would say it’s between Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice or Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms. Being a Lit major I’m a big fan of the classics.
What is your favorite quote?
If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.” — Issac Newton. I think this says a lot about the accomplishments one achieves in life. No matter what you have done and no matter how great it is, it was made possible by those who shaped and taught you in your life. They are the giants upon which you stand, and you should always be humble and grateful for that.
If you could travel anywhere in the world where would you go?
I would probably go to Spain. I’ve been taking Spanish for five years now and I would love the opportunity to immerse myself in a Spanish-speaking country. Spain is so much older than the US and has so much more cultural history, I’d love to explore that and get a better sense of the language than you can learn from a classroom.
Do you plan on studying abroad?
Yes! I’m actually going to Ireland for ten days as a part of a new Spring-into-Summer course titled Irish Literature and Landscape. We focus on the coursework part during the spring semester, reading plays and short works by famous Irish authors, getting a sense of the history and how that plays into the literature. Then in the summer we travel to Ireland to see the places we learned about, and attend some lectures and plays. Beyond that, I’m hoping to travel abroad and spend my second semester next year in Spain
Are your parents coming for parents weekend?
They are not unfortunately, but it’s alright, I’ll be seeing them over spring break when I go to Orlando.