Student Government Advisor Jenny Jackson (left) works with Sara Nottingham, Associated Student Government (Redwood Campus) director of publicity and media.

Jenny Jackson discovered a whole new world of education after she enrolled at Rogue Community College. She took a theater arts class, taught by Bobbi Kidder, and gained confidence in herself. Today Jackson is a faculty advisor to student government on RCC's Redwood Campus in Grants Pass, and she's teaching a yearlong leadership class.

Life wasn't always as rosey. When she was 6, Jackson lost her parents in an airplane crash and struggled over the next decade to recover her place in the world. An only child, she lived with relatives but ran away at 13 and entered the foster care network. Her experiences in that system have given her understanding and empathy in helping troubled and nontraditional students at Rogue.

Jackson, now 33, earned her adult high school diploma at RCC and then graduated in 1997 with an Associate of Arts degree. She tutored and worked as a substitute teacher at RCC and continuing her acting career. She has performed in "The Laramie Project" and "To Kill a Mockingbird," and helped Kidder establish Impact Theater for teens.

Jackson graduated last June with honors from Southern Oregon University with a bachelor's in communication and recently was selected to be a Rotary Club ambassador to the Philippines. She's also playing a lead role in RCC's production of "Miracle on 34th Street," which begins Thanksgiving weekend.

"This is an exciting time to live in. I feel we're on the edge of something big," said Jackson. "Things are just really good in life."