Student Profile:
Jimmy Pearson '07

Hometown: Chappaqua, NY | Major: History | Residential College: Wiess College

When Jimmy Pearson told his mom he wanted to go to Rice University, she said, "But it's so far."

The more she learned about Rice, however, the happier she became. In addition to offering a welcomed culture shock from Chappaqua, New York, Jimmy chose Rice because of scholarship assistance.

"My parents could not have afforded to send me here, so the scholarship help was the key to changing the direction of my life."

Jimmy is spending his junior year in Vienna, learning German and studying history with the hope of attending graduate school for a PhD in history. While in Vienna, he has a teaching internship in a high school English language class.

"At the high school level, the English classes here focus a lot on cultural stuff, since they have most of the language skills down by then," he says. "Apparently, nothing is off limits in Austrian schools, so my advisor told me to be prepared to be challenged on some sensitive issues, such as abortion, U.S. foreign policy, etc."

Jimmy is a midshipman at the NROTC unit at Rice, which means that his immediate plans after graduation involve four or five years of service as an officer in the Navy. He's thinking about joining the submarine force.

Two of the many things Jimmy loves about Rice are his motivated classmates and the community atmosphere with no shortage of things to try. While on campus, he has been involved with Wiess Cabinet, Wiess Tabletop Theater, Rice Crew, Wiess Beer Bike Team, and Will Rice O-Week.

The scholarships Rice was able to give Jimmy freed him to pursue "pure history at an amazing school" now, thus making it significantly easier for him to pay for graduate school if and when that opportunity arises in the future.

For the moment, Jimmy is enjoying every day, and his parents are proudly sporting their Owl car stickers up in Chappaqua, New York.