As a public institution, it’s the duty of Wichita State University to cultivate and sustain an inclusive campus that meets the needs of all its students. The story of alumna Nisha Jackson, however, demonstrates that the efforts of WSU’s staff to help students succeed is more about compassion than obligation.

In 2006, Jackson was a young, single mother of three who’d recently moved to Wichita from Dallas to find a safer place to live for her family. She was working as a certified nurse’s aide, not earning enough to provide, living on food stamps and in Section 8 public housing. The way she was treated when she needed services, she said, was deplorable. But in Wichita, Jackson lived next door to Wichita State, and she knew that she’d find an opportunity here.

“The first day I set foot on campus, I just looked around. It was like a park,” she said. “The tulips were blooming and it was so beautiful. I couldn’t believe all this was right next to the neighborhood where I lived, and nobody ever came up to see it.”

When she signed up for her first class, her plan was to better herself by getting an associate’s degree, but once she started taking gerontology courses she was hooked. Jackson realized that she was standing on the threshold of a profession, not just a better job, and better still, it was a profession she discovered she was passionate about.

Still, before she caught that first glimpse of the future she lives in now, Jackson faced many challenges, not the least of which was her health.

Barriers

When she started at WSU, Jackson weighed 360 pounds, and being an older student with children coming from her socioeconomic status – she had a lot to overcome.

“It’s just fear,” she said. “‘Am I going to be successful when I get up there?’ ‘Will there be people like me?’ ‘Are they going to help me, or will this be another problem?’ When I started, I just really wanted to eliminate barriers to success. Anything I could control I did.”

For Jackson, some of those early barriers seemed overwhelming. It was hard to get financial aid and admissions paperwork together. She didn’t have a car to track down all the documents she needed. She didn’t have money to send off for her high school transcript.

But she did have determination.

“I was like, ‘I don’t care, I’m getting into this school, even if I have to pay for my first class out of pocket,’” Jackson said. “It’s hard if you’re not comfortable being on campus. You’re not comfortable walking into an office and asking for help with an application. That makes people think maybe you’re not ready for college – but maybe you really are. Maybe you’re ready to handle just one class. That’s how I started. That’s how I learned it was doable.”

Then there was the issue of her weight. Jackson said her size meant she couldn’t even sit in the desks in most classrooms. She also said that the best thing she learned during her time at WSU was to take advantage of every opportunity available. The people offering those services at Wichita State met her where she was at, then helped get someplace better.

Getting Help

As an undergraduate, Jackson got help from Disability Support Services, which provided a cart every day to get her to her class. She also heard about Student Support Services from classmates, and as the first person in her family to go to college, she was qualified for exceptional assistance.

Student Support and Disability Support Services are both part of TRIO, a group of federally funded equal opportunity assistance programs housed at Wichita State.

“I could go to Student Support Services computer lab and print out my homework,” she said. “They provided me with a computer because I didn’t have one. They provided me with tutoring, especially with algebra. They were my rock.”

It was Jackson’s SSS adviser, Vanessa Souriya-Mnirajd, now the associate director of WSU’s Kansas Kids @ GEAR UP program, who gave her advice that made a big difference.

“We were sitting in Vanessa’s office when she said, ‘you’re getting ready to graduate, you’ve conquered all these obstacles, what do you want to do next? Let’s get the weight.’”

Jackson started going to the Heskett Center faithfully after that, where she received even more encouragement and support. She reached out beyond the university for help for her entire family, working with doctors and nutritionists in Via Christi’s “Shapedown” program to learn a new, healthy lifestyle. Jackson and her daughters were so successful they were featured in the Aug.-Sept. 2012 issue of Via Christi’s “Life” magazine.

“Before I came to Wichita State I just wasn’t able to support my family,” she said. “But to come to Wichita State and go in for services, and they treat you like, ‘We are here to help you. You are here helping yourself, so we’re going to help you.’”

Jackson’s advice for others who want to improve their situations as she has: take baby steps. Just do something, she said, even something small every day.

“That really does transform your life. If you take advantage of what’s on campus, it really will change you. It changed my life. It changed my children.”

Looking ahead

In 2011, Jackson graduated cum laude with a bachelor degree in general studies, and in 2013 she finished a master’s in aging studies. Today, Jackson has passed her state and federal exams to become the CEO of a nursing facility, and she’s out looking for the right job. She’s also looking at the next step: coming back to Wichita State for her doctorate in community psychology.

“I started as a CNA,” she said. “It was back-breaking hard work. I was a caregiver for a lot of family members and I’ve been through a lot of stuff, but I want to be able to affect long-term care for the elderly.”

Jackson said that she’s still amazed to look back at how far she’s come, but she’s grateful she didn’t have to do it herself.

“When I stepped away from my comfort zone, there were people to help,” she said. “It was never easy, but it did get easier, and better.”