Jacquelyn Hodgson
Jacquelyn Hodgson
Questrom 2010 | Associate Consultant, Finance – Common Impact
Jacquelyn Hodgson spent her time at Boston University balancing her love of community service with her studies as a business major. After graduating, she was able to combine her skills with her passion for service by joining AmeriCorps. Jackie received her MBA at Brandeis and has just accepted a position with a non-profit consulting company.
Jackie didn’t know what she wanted to do. She enrolled at BU as an engineering student but didn’t find it to be the right fit for her. Eventually, she found her way to the Questrom School of Business. It offered her a way to combine her desire for team work and her skills in math.
She saw the value that connecting college students to their community created and her own actions reflect this. While pursuing her business degree, Jackie was intent on giving back: she participated in ASB, helped run FYSOP, and worked in the CSC. All the while, she didn’t lose sight of her business degree. Jackie was simultaneously involved the Questrom organizations and was head TA. In her mind, she spent her time at BU as a part of two different and distinct communities. Her two interests, business and community service, were kept separate.
In her mind, she spent her time at BU as a part of two different and distinct communities
After graduating with a concentration in marketing, she asked herself, “how can I combine these two seemingly different worlds together?” and she found her answer to be AmeriCorps. After working with the organization as a vista manager for three years, she decided to go back to school and pursue a masters in social impact management.
“It’s not what I’m doing, it’s who I’m doing it with”
Jackie doesn’t know what the future holds for her but this uncertainty doesn’t seem to bother her. She explained, “It’s not what I’m doing, it’s who I’m doing it with.” To Jackie, happiness and success aren’t defined by her job title or her salary. Her dream job is more about her peers and colleagues and her values and ideals. She went on to tell me that “it doesn’t matter what I’m doing as long as I’m following my passion to do social good with people who share the same values.”
Jackie figured out what she wanted to do after her first ASB trip. It didn’t matter what she was doing, so long as it had a social purpose. Looking back, Jackie says that the classes she cherishes most are those that taught her how to think and how to learn. Since her time at BU, she has realized that the focus on grades and competition that consumes many college students simply isn’t important after college. In fact, she thinks that this distracts you from what is really important: learning. Jackie wishes that people understood that “College is not about being the best, it’s about doing what makes you happy.”