VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Hope Jackson's afro is often the center of attention. She even wrote about it in her scholarship essays.
"I talked about how it really matched my diverging interests and how it reflected who I was as a person not conforming," said Jackson.
The Ocean Lakes High School senior has broken barriers. She founded the school's first Black Student Alliance. She is also the senior class president, a member of just about every club, goes on missions trips, tutors Chemistry students, cares for children at her church and maintains a 4.24 GPA.
"Find something you're passionate about, and then run with it," said Jackson. "Don't let anyone tell you that you can`t do anything.
Jackson's run recently earned her a spot as a Ron Brown Scholar. The $40,000 scholarship is granted to an elite group of high school seniors each year.
"It was really prayerful the way we sent it off too," she said. "Even when we took it to the FedEx place, the ladies who were sending it off prayed for it. So it was awesome."
The program honors the legacy of the late Secretary of Commerce who served during the Clinton Administration. Brown and 34 others were killed in a 1996 plane crash in Croatia.
Ron Brown once said "When you reach that level of success, keep the door open and the ladder down for others to follow." That is the type of legacy Jackson is working to leave behind, too.
"Once you get involved and gotten ahead, you have to leave it down for other people to follow," she said. "That's something that really stuck with me."
Jackson has her sights set on Duke University where she will begin her journey to become a missionary doctor.
"I've always contemplated how can I combine God and my academics," said Jackson. "I knew the best way to do that would be to become some type of missionary in a field like that."
News 3's Jessica Larche has a special connection to Jackson. Larche won the same scholarship in 2003.
Jessica Larche and Hope Jackson
