Hyla Jacobson ’18 is a sociology major and a community outreach coordinator for the Popel Shaw Center for Race and Ethnicity. Hyla is passionate about social justice and hopes to run a nonprofit organization working towards ending mass incarceration. Keep reading to learn more about this amazing member of the Dickinson community!
Name: Hyla Jacobson
Class Year: 2018
Hometown: Silver Spring, MD
Major: Sociology
HC: Why did you choose your major?
HJ: I came into Dickinson thinking I would be an international studies major, however I took a few of the classes for that major and was not really loving it. Then I took the intro sociology class and a class called Crime and Punishment in American Society and completely fell in love with sociology. I have always been extremely passionate about social justice, and sociology has given me a way to analyze these issues and understand them in a more complex way.
HC:What are you involved with at Dickinson College?
HJ: At Dickinson, I am a member of Kappa Alpha Theta, I am a community outreach coordinator for the Popel Shaw Center, I am a global ambassador for the Copenhagen program, I do prison inmate tutoring, I am involved in Relay for Life, and I am a member of Omicron Delta Kappa the leadership honors society and of Order of Omega the Greek leadership honors society.
HC: Why is your work at the Popel Shaw Center important?
HJ: At the Popel Shaw Center, I am a community outreach coordinator, so I work with groups on campus to collaborate on events between these groups and the PSC. I also work to promote the PSC’s events across campus and help with the planning and execution of these events. This work is very important as the mission of the PSC is to promote diversity and inclusion across campus. Obviously, Dickinson still has more room to grow when it comes to this area, but it is important to be taking actions steps that are striving to make Dickinson and more diverse and inclusive community for all its members.
HC: What are your goals after Dickinson?
HJ: After Dickinson I initially would like to work for a few years in either a nonprofit, or a think tank doing work that involves criminal justice reform. Then after grad school, I would love to run my own nonprofit organization working towards ending mass incarceration, especially in regards to the racial disparities in our criminal justice system.
HC: Did you study abroad? If so, where?
HJ: Yes, I spent Fall of 2016 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Also, in the Spring of 2016, I did the Mediterranean Migration Mosaic, where I was doing ethnographic field research in Italy for three weeks.
HC: How was your abroad experience?
HJ: I know it’s cliche, but my abroad experience was truly the best 4 months of my life. Not only did I get to live in the most amazing city in the world for 4 months #copeisdope, but I also go to travel to 13 other European countries and see so many places in the world I had always dreamed about. However, more important than just the traveling, abroad truly helped me to gain a strong sense of self and independence that I would never have gotten if I had just stayed on Dickinson’s campus all 4 years.
HC: What is something most people would not know about you?
HJ: I am left-handed and have an unhealthy obsession with Doug the Pug.