When you think of a well rounded student, Ayisha Jackson comes to mind. This weekend the senior at Brown University will be among the Class of 2018 and will graduate with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Materials Engineering. Ayisha’s academic achievement is not the only impressive thing about this very bright young woman. She has interned at NASA and Vanderbilt Institute for Nanoscale Science and Engineering, studied in Hong Kong, traveled throughout the continent of Asia and is also fluent in Manderin. Here’s Ayisha’s story….
“I was born in Georgetown, Guyana and I moved up to American (New York) with my mom around the age of three years old. My mother was born and raised in Buxton, and to my knowledge that is where my grandparents are from as well. I visited when I was about fourteen and I absolutely fell in love with my home country, I hope to visit again in the near future, and more often as I grow older. I attended school and church during my three years there, although I do not remember the names of the institutions. I can ask my mother about the names of the school and our church if you are interested in those details.
I attended Bard High School Early College Queens in Long Island City, New York. It was an early college program that provided me with a fast paced “two years of high school-two years of college” curriculum. I learned a lot, and was able to graduate with a high school diploma and associates degree from Bard College in Liberal Arts and Sciences. In high school I took really interesting courses like History of New York, Anthropology, Childhood in Literature, Organic Chemistry, Chemistry of Food and Cooking, and advanced my mathematics knowledge up to Multivariable Calculus. I was also part of an intensive Mandarin Chinese language program that helped develop my skills in Chinese as my second verbal and written language. During the spring of my junior year (or first year of the college program), I was given the opportunity to travel to China as part of a Bard exchange program with a Yale founded high school in ChangSha, China. In addition to the foreign exchange experience in ChangSha, we also traveled and toured Shanghai, Suzhou, and Hangzhou during that time. This deeply strengthened my love for the language and region.
I ended up attending Brown University, an Ivy League University in Providence, RI, where I am currently finishing up my last year. I decided to study Materials Engineering. During my time here I was able to develop my interest and knowledge in the engineering subject and picked up a few hobbies like industrial design and photography. I was able to hold two great summer research internships at Vanderbilt Institute for Nanoscale Science and Engineering in the summer of 2016, and NASA’s Glenn Research Center during the summer of 2017. I was also able to study abroad in Hong Kong and continue studying and practicing Chinese there, while receiving the opportunity to travel to Taiwan, Beijing, a few more small cities in the Guangdong province, Tokyo and Kyoto in Japan, and Seoul, South Korea.
Congratulations on your amazing achievement Aisya. You rock!
Congratulations, Ayisha! Go forth and do awesome things.
So very proud of you. Best of luck as you move forward
The world is waiting for you.
Congratulations Ayesha. I love reading about Guyanese excellence.
Congratulations
Congratulations
Ok cuz I c u
Congratulations!! Keep up the good work.
Congratulations young Lady Jackson. Your tomorrow must be better than today! Keep rocking…..
Congratulations!