Joseph Jacobson

Student

“I gave up school because I thought I’d make it in the workplace without an education. I woke up real hard.”

“I’d been working full time for the past four years when the company I worked for got bought out and I was downsized,” says Joseph Jacobson in recalling a recent bitter experience. “So now I’m a returning student and I’m treating school like a job: It’s my job to do well here. And I’m going to finish up my degree because without an education, you’re always going to be limited to a certain extent. Good or bad, that’s just the way it is.” And Joseph reports having almost a sense of relief to be back in school at SMC.

“I’m posting all As and Bs, and I’m doing well this time because I’m giving it 100 percent and I’m focused. I love this college because there are so many creative and interesting people here—I actually just saw a Sikh performer at a political rally on campus.” Joseph adds that his studies in ethnicity and Asian American history have caused him to think deeply about the political climate in America today. “Here comes Prop 209 and I just happen to be taking courses related to all the issues involved,” he says. “A lot of people just have very simplistic viewpoints, but you have to study these issues. And if you look at history,” he continues, “you’ll see that things like this are the eternal themes of mankind. And before we pass judgment, we all need to make ourselves aware of things like ‘ethnic cleansing’ that have happened elsewhere.”

Joseph plans to bring an obviously critical mind eventually to the study of law. “I feel I’d like to work as a prosecutor in the district attorney’s office, which I know doesn't make a lot of money,” he says. “But being involved in criminal law would help me make a difference in our communities. And it would make me feel good to be doing something that I know was a contribution to society.”

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