RB’s Jackson seeks career in blazer country
Editor’s Note: Franklin’s Future is a regular feature spotlighting a high school senior in Franklin County and what they have planned for life after graduation.
Statistics show that the majority of Red Bay High School graduates who attend college begin their collegiate careers either at Northwest-Shoals Community College, the University of North Alabama (UNA) or the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB).
Sabrina Jackson
Sabrina Jackson, 18, has found herself following the trend, as she will be blazing down to Birmingham to attend UAB since her departure through graduation from RBHS as part of the Class of 2010.
Jackson, who received word she had been accepted by the nursing school at UAB prior to graduating high school, has big plans to move away from home and into a dorm while continuing her studies.
“I can’t wait to move down there and get started,” she said with excitement. “The reason I chose nursing is because I want to help and care for others, it is one of my passions.”
Jackson said the plans are to be in school for four years then walk away from UAB with a degree in registered nursing.
“Once I get that degree, my mother, grandmother and I will be loading up and going to Jamaica,” she said. “That will be part of my college graduation present. I want to visit there because it is beautiful and I like the way they talk. If everything goes to plan we will stay there for a couple of weeks before heading back to the real world.”
Jackson plans on staying and settling down in Birmingham after she comes back from her trip, hoping to snag a job at the Kirkland Clinic.
Jackson said the thought of coming back to Franklin County and living here has crossed her mind because of her close relationships with family and friends, but said the type of environment she would like to work in is not possible locally.
“If there was a big hospital here then I would consider moving back because of my family and I’d like to see my nephew grow up,” she said. “The way I see it is, with working in a bigger city, the bigger the income you are going to have and that’s what I’m looking forward too. Plus there is just a lot of things to do down there and by the time I get out of school I would have been there for four years so by that time that place will feel like home to me.”
If push comes to shove and Jackson has to move on to plan-B, she believes she will venture off into the culinary arts because one of the things she enjoys doing in her spare time is cooking.
Jackson’s ultimate dream is to have a house in the suburbs with a husband and two kids and sees that coming only after her studies are complete.
Some of the things Jackson will miss about her days in Red Bay will be friends, having fun at football games and painting up her face for other athletic events. The one thing she would change would be the cafeteria food because she said that is something she definitely won’t be missing at all.
Jackson truly sees herself as a city girl, having a distinct fear of bugs and a need to be close to stores to fulfill her needs for shopping.
Friends describe Jackson as outgoing, a load of laughs and a person who has no problem showing her compassion and care for others.
Once in college, Jackson sees herself joining a sisterhood sorority to help her make new friends.
“I plan to rush Alpha Omicron Pi once I get down to UAB,” she said. “Their pledge leadership describes me really well and I would like to make some new friends. It is not a party type of sorority by any means. My parents and sisters would kill me if that was the case.”
Jackson said some things she would like to accomplish in the future, besides her career, is to visit Australia “because of their accents” and go skydiving which “would be cool.”
Even though Jackson said she has shared a lot of memories in northwest Alabama, Birmingham will be her place of residency, hopefully from now on.
“I’m excited,” she said. “It is so pretty down there and even though it is different from Red Bay, I honestly believe it just seems to better fit my personality.”
