Ashley Jackson, a former MCCC student and former VOICE Co-Editor-in-Chief, transferred to Princeton University to study theater a year ago. Her path to both institutions was a long and unusual one.
Jackson says, “I’m really glad that I didn’t just go directly to college because I would not have had the clarity and the focus that I do now about what I want to do with this education.”
Initially, her plan was to become an actress. She says, “All I wanted to do when I was 18 was go audition in [New York City] and that’s exactly what I went and did.”
While in New York, Jackson attended the American Musical Dramatic Academy where she became an actor and playwright before taking on the role of a creative and development producer. Here she learned to raise funds and operate her own plays and shows. She also worked a variety of side jobs including a stint as a dancing M&M which she chronicled in an award-winning article for The VOICE.
Jackson says, “It was one of those things where that was the exactly right time in my life to live in a shitty New York apartment. I split a one bedroom with another incredible young actress, and I lived in the living room like Harry fucking Potter and I had a whole bunch of bookshelves and I hid behind my books and my scripts.”
Following her time in New York Jackson went on to marry her now husband, Brandon Botner, and while attempting to purchase their first home, they were faced with an even newer problem.
Jackson states, “When my husband and I were in the middle of buying our house, the pandemic happened.”
When it came to the issues of moving, buying a home, and adapting to COVID, Jackson then took on the additional challenge of going to Mercer to make her newfound dream of running her own theater company a reality. She was also working a side job at a women’s shelter.
In regards to coming to MCCC, Jackson says, “I just wanted to take some general business courses. I already made it pretty far without a college degree.”
Botner says, “Ashley is that one of a kind person that you meet in your life and you think ‘If there’s anyone who can do it, it’s her.’”
Though she only planned to take a few courses, Jackson became more involved in MCCC’s community and started to build her success in her academic journey. In addition to joining the staff of The College VOICE, she joined the Honors program, and notably placed second at the Beacon Conference, where she was recognized for her essay writing in the mid-Atlantic among two-year colleges.
Dr. Bettina Caluori, an English professor and Jackson’s former advisor, says, “I don’t think Ashley came to Mercer to be a commuter student, you know, come on campus and leave, come on campus and leave. She came to be a part of a community.”
It was through MCCC that she met Dr. Edward Avery-Natale, a sociology professor. Jackson says, “I would not be at Princeton doing sociology if it wasn’t for Dr. Avery-Natale.”
The admiration goes both ways. Dr. Avery-Natale says, “We would end up exchanging multi-page emails just thinking about these ideas coming from these interesting philosophers. That’s sort of when I started to notice just how talented she was, how engaged she was, and how good she was at thinking in the ways that I was encouraging in the class.”
Dr. Avery-Natale’s approach to Jackson’s work had a significant impact. She says, “He let me really freestyle on one of my finals and I wrote what became my first sociological play, and it was the play that I used to get into Princeton.”
In regard to that final, Dr. Avery-Natale says, “I was doing grading for the end of the semester and I was like okay, ‘I’ll start reading this play and then I’ll just finish it tomorrow’ and it was so damn good that I ended up staying awake until 1:00 a.m. because I couldn’t stop reading it.”
Jackson was accepted into Princeton University’s fifth cohort of transfer students where she continues to study sociology and work in their theater program.
Dr. Keith Shaw, Director of Transfer and Outreach at Princeton University, noted how Jackson took pre-emptive measures to ensure a smooth shift into Princeton. He says, “What really struck me, both, was how organized [Ashley] was and how she was able to isolate and recognize the things that she really concretely needed the answers to be able to make a successful transition,”
He continues, “I was so impressed that she had thought of it all before the people on my end, including myself, reached out to her about it.”
Jackson’s interests have not narrowed since transferring. She says, “I made the decision to support both my interest in theater and my interest in sociology. So Princeton to me was paramount because it supported both of those interests and of course my interest in the interdisciplinary of the humanities.”
She continues, “I’m really just trying to push the bounds of theater with the work that I do, not just in the sociological perspective, but in increasing accessibility through filmed content.”
While attending Princeton, Jackson has gone on to participate in several of their programs which include: Writing Center Fellow, Mentor for Transfer/Veteran Mentor Program, Student Stage Management Mentor at the LCA, Theater Program Student Advisor at the LCA, and many more.
Additionally, Jackson was also a part of several performances at the Lewis Center for the Arts which include: Villa Dolorosa (Three Botched Birthdays), ¡La Gran Cumbia Espectacular!, and Icarus and Other Party Tricks.
When asked about her overall take on transferring to Princeton from Mercer, Jackson says, “Looking back it all feels so linear, but at the time having an amazing faculty who can help me navigate everything that was going on at Mercer was absolutely influential and inspired me to go to Princeton.”
She adds, “When you’re a Tiger you have connections to just a wonderful way of pursuing the world and unlocking opportunities that would not be available to you otherwise. So, always proud to be a Tiger, but always proud to be a Viking.”
Corrections: And earlier version of this article misspelled the last names of Brandon Botner and Edward Avery-Natale. The article was updated with these corrections on 1/16/24.
