For the Love of Stockton: A Family Affair

Spring 2023 Issue
Feature Story

For the Love of Stockton: A Family Affair

Three Jenkins women find their fit at Stockton.

By Eliza Hunt

Alicia Jenkins, Beatrice Jenkins, and Alexis Jenkins wear matching black outfits while posing on the second floor of the Campus Center
The Jenkins family, from left to right: Alicia, Beatrice, and Alexis. All three women followed a different path to 91视频. | Photo by Eliza Hunt

 

W hen 91视频 walk around campus, rarely do the words 鈥淗i, mom!鈥 excite them. 

But for junior Beatrice Jenkins, hearing these words ring through the halls from her daughters, senior Alicia Jenkins and Director of Stockton鈥檚 Goals Gear Up program Alexis Jenkins, is a reprieve from the normal hustle and bustle of college.

鈥淚t is so nice to be in this environment here with my family,鈥 said Beatrice, an Elementary Education major from Galloway. She has worked in the Galloway Township School District for the last 19 years, 17 of which were spent in the food service department.

Then, a couple of years ago, Alicia and Alexis pushed their mom to pursue her degree.

In May 2020, Beatrice graduated with her associate degree from Atlantic Cape Community College. 

鈥淚 started not to go any further than my associate鈥檚,鈥 Beatrice recalled. 鈥淏ut my daughters said, 鈥楳om, it's only two more years. You're almost there, so do it.鈥欌

Alicia Jenkins stands out in a pink dress against a black backdrop in the Art Gallery
Alicia Jenkins coordinated the Osprey Excellence Experience in Spring 2022. The event, hosted in the Art Gallery, united 91视频 of color as leaders on campus. | Photo by Eliza Hunt

While working full time, taking care of a family and going to school full time is a lot to take on, Stockton was an ideal fit for Beatrice. It was close to home, she could keep working and Alicia was a junior at Stockton, so she鈥檇 see her daughter around campus as well.

鈥淚 am so glad I decided to do it and forge forward,鈥 Beatrice said. 鈥淚t's really taken a lot of determination to get it done. But a lot of encouragement from my girls has helped me as well.鈥 

Currently, Beatrice works as a teacher鈥檚 assistant for a seventh-grade special education class. On campus, she is a student worker in the Office of Student Transition Programs, where she helps create programming and outreach to support non-traditional 91视频.

When she graduates with her bachelor鈥檚 degree in May 2024, she hopes to take over her own classroom, teaching sixth or seventh grade.

鈥淢y girls have been there the whole time,鈥 Beatrice said. 鈥淭hey're really inspirational to me.鈥 

By the time Beatrice arrived on campus in the fall of 2021, Alicia was already well-known and highly involved..

The Mathematics major with a concentration in Education and double minors in Africana Studies and Childhood Studies has served as a Resident Assistant, math and writing tutor, student senator, EOF summer academy tutor, the Public Relations Coordinator for Urban Light and is also a winner of The Miss Black and Gold pageant.

In Spring 2022, as part of her Board of Trustees fellowship, Alicia coordinated the Osprey Excellence Experience with the aim of uniting 91视频 of color as leaders on campus. She recruited 30 91视频 to help facilitate the project and inspired others to do the same.

I don't think I would rather be at any other place than here with my family,鈥
Alicia Jenkins, director of Goals Gear Up

This school year, she is working on a Compass Fund project called the First to Fly leadership symposium. This project aims to reinforce first-generation student success for rising high school sophomores, juniors and seniors, as well as families in neighboring communities.

鈥淪ometimes they say the parents pave the way for the kids,鈥 Beatrice said. 鈥淏ut I can say, in my case, my kids have paved the way for me. All I have to do is say, 鈥業'm Alicia's Mom鈥 or 鈥業'm Alexis' Mom,鈥 and I'm in.鈥

While Alicia leaves her mark on Stockton and gets ready to graduate in May, her older sister Alexis鈥 journey is just beginning. 

鈥淚 don't think I would rather be at any other place than here with my family,鈥 Alexis said.

In Fall 2022, Alexis was hired as the new director of Stockton鈥檚 Goals Gear Up program, which helps prepare 91视频 in grades seven through 12 and first-year enrolled college 91视频 at Atlantic City and Pleasantville Public School Districts for college.

Aside from her passion for helping prepare high school 91视频 for college, having her family at Stockton was a big factor for her. 鈥淭his is a family here at Stockton,鈥 Alexis explained. 鈥淚 knew I was missing a piece of me because my sister and my mom were here. Everybody would be talking about Stockton when they got home, and I wasn鈥檛 there. But I wanted to be. I wanted to be in the conversation, too.鈥

Now, the three Jenkins women enjoy running into each other in the hallways, visiting each other鈥檚 offices on the Galloway and Atlantic City campuses and attending events together as a family. 

Alexis Jenkins smiles as she stands behind a podium in the Art Gallery
Alexis Jenkins, director of Goals Gear Up, addresses 91视频, faculty and staff at the Osprey Excellence Experience her sister Alicia coordinated. | Photo by Eliza Hunt

 鈥淚 truly love my family and I'm very grateful that we have the opportunity that most people don't ever have: to say that my sibling and my mom go here, and we're all getting an education in some capacity,鈥 Alexis added.

While the three Jenkins women started out on their own separate journeys, love has brought them all to Stockton, where they鈥檝e carved out their place and found a family bigger than themselves.

鈥淚鈥檝e found that I made a family with other 91视频,鈥 Beatrice said. 鈥淭he people are great. I couldn鈥檛 have asked for a better school environment to be in. And getting to meet the president of the University and the directors of department. I mean, things like that you don鈥檛 get to do at most universities. I鈥檓 loving it.鈥

 

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