the Sam Jackson College Experience

This is my all purpose 'about' page! In general, I highly recommend you check out my archives full of hundreds of interesting posts. If you are interested in advertising / sponsorships, please contact me for details. If you're interested in contacting me generally, the form is the same!

Last Updated: Jan 23, 2011. (Yes, it was loooong overdue.)

Why I have this blog: I started this blog describing it as "an organic derivation of my own college process." I also said that "The reason I have done this painfully extensive research on various college admissions related topics, and the reason I analyze the marketing as thoroughly as I can, is because I am being marketed to and it pays to be savvy." Now that I'm at Yale, I'm still writing about some of the same higher education marketing / college admissions topics, plus my reflections on life at Yale. I also yearn to write more about technology and the internet generally, so you may see that impulse push through to the fore.

About me: My name is Sam Jackson, and I'm currently a senior at Yale University (Class of 2011). I am in Trumbull College, the best residential college at Yale. I was in the Yale-PKU Joint Program in Fall 2009, where I had a great time studying abroad in Beijing. I graduated in 2007 from Phillips Exeter Academy, in Exeter, NH. You can read about my work experience as well if you are interested.

I like to write (articles, stories, blogs) and read (books, newspapers, fortune cookies), and the humanities are generally my favorite subjects. I'm a political science major, with an emphasis on political philosophy but an academic appetite that is very omnivorous. At Yale I have taken classes from "Art Crime" to "International Environmental Governance" and everything in between... I value knowledge and learning because my experience has shown that there is inevitably a use for even the most esoteric sorts of information. I'm told that I have a good memory.

Now that I'm at Yale I have no shortage of activities to get involved in, so I'm busy all the time being political, writing for journals and newspapers, going to shows, doing all kinds of things...! I enjoy some humor in my life which is why I count authors like Terry Pratchett among my favorites; Al Franken is a personal hero of mine (very happy he's been elected Senator since I first wrote this!).

I try to learn important life lessons from my golden retrievers, Arlo and Cozmo. Autumn is my favorite season, because I love the New England foliage and the pleasant weather. Halloween is, of course, the best holiday of the year (it's also my birthday).

How about a photo? Here's one from the forbidden city. My hair is usually longer!