This is something I'm passionate about

I’m Samantha Jacobson and I’m from Boston, Massachusetts, and I’m a senior studying psychology. I’ll start grad school here in the fall. When people look at me, I feel like I present as kind of shy and reserved, and I think that makes people find me unapproachable. I wish people would see me as friendly, but I think my resting face makes me seem unapproachable. One of the challenges I’ve overcome in my life was finishing high school because I went to school about two blocks away from where the marathon bombing happened, and a big group of students was there that day. I was a sophomore at the time, and it was really hard to go back to school for two more years. Ever since I was little, I wanted to be in a career that helps other people, like first I wanted to be a doctor, but then I hated studying natural science so that didn’t work out. So, something that drives me is wanting to help others as much as possible.

I strongly believe in all the big social justice movements, especially equity and equality for everyone and making societal changes towards a more accepting culture. This is something I’m very passionate about and I think is really important. My parents have supported me to be where I am today. I’m an only child, so we’ve always been pretty close, and they’ve always been kind, accepting, and very supportive. I have verbally thanked them, but I like to express my feelings through actions like gift-giving and doing what I can to support them back, so that’s how I thank them. For my best qualities, I think because I enjoy helping other people and trying to make other people feel better, I would like to think that I’m a good friend. I think that I’m supportive and accepting of my friends and that I’m a safe person for them to come to with their issues. I think and hope my friends would agree with that.

I would like to live in New Zealand before I die. I’ve always wanted to, even though I’ve never been there, but hopefully I get to do that someday. My mom has been a role model for me since she is a very strong, independent woman and has had a big influence on me. Growing up, she always worked the most and my dad was more of a stay-at-home parent who did child care, so I’ve always looked up to her for being such a strong woman. At SPU, Dr. Roe is a huge role model for me. I’m on his research team and have been for a couple of years, and he’s taught me so much and is possibly the kindest human ever, he’s just wonderful and he always has snacks! He got an email the other day when I was with him that said there were brownie bites in the breakroom and he was like, “do you want to go get brownie bites?” and of course I wanted to, so I did!

I think I feel the most beautiful when I’m with other people and feeling very happy and having a good time with them. Right now, I definitely value relationships and career opportunities, which has definitely changed from before college. I think before college I was still trying to figure out what really mattered to me, but now I know what I want to do. One misconception about myself that I want to erase is any misconception that I don’t want to talk to people or form relationships with people. I think I have a very neutral resting face which probably communicates that I don’t want to be open and friendly, so I would love to erase that.