Who is Nikolai Abraham Jackson?
I wonder the same question to myself most days.
Am I an addict? A Christian? An ex-Soldier? Or just a person?
I would have to say all of the above and then some!
During my formative years in Bible Camp and Church Youth Group, I was also going to school obviously.
I went to Iowa Elementary School, Aurora Hills Middle School, and Gateway High School. Go Olympians!
I was a “Gifted Child” I suppose. I was in Kindergarten for only a few weeks before I was told that I would be skipping Kindergarten and going straight to 1st grade! I felt so smart!
My first grade teacher had classroom pets like rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, and even a Tarantula!
One time, a kid brought home two hamsters to keep over the summer and he came back to school with 5-6 new baby hamsters!
Another time I remember we came back from the weekend or recess and it looked like there were two tarantulas in the tank, but it had just molted and shed its skin! Such a learning experience for us!
Another time, after a recess where I had spent most of my time staring into the sun….(I wasn’t the brightest young child…) I came into 1st grade and asked my teacher why she had changed the color of the string lights on the puppet show from white to orange….little did I know she hadn’t changed the lights, I was just getting after effects from staring into the sun so long at recess!
Maybe that’s why my glasses prescription is so strong as an adult!
After elementary school I was still looked at as “Gifted” so I entered the International Baccalaureate program at Aurora Hills Middle School.
I enjoyed the curriculum and was always the first to have the answers in class but my grades suffered due to too much homework and not doing it.
I even tried to forge my mothers signature once and the teacher got suspicious and asked if it was actually my mothers signature before I went to recess and I told her it was…
…let me tell you, when I got back from recess she had called my mom and asked her if she had signed my progress report. to which my mom said no, and that teacher grabbed me by my ear and dragged me through the hallways, to the classroom, all while berating me for my behavior!
I think this is absolutely unacceptable behavior for anyone, let alone a teacher of children.
Either way, I went on through all my grades, enjoying the lessons in school, but never really “applying myself,” as the teachers would put it. What they really meant was that I didn’t do homework.
I hear a lot of kids nowadays don’t have homework and I applaud and envy that!
It really was a matter of me never doing homework to be honest. I would come home and put on UPN and watch Fresh Prince of Bel-Air or Blind Date or Stand-Up Comedy and forget about the homework most days.
I played in little league & high school football, as well as mastering the Trumpet, Mellophone, & French Horn in Band & Marching Band.
I also did a little A/V work for my high school, trying to turn the Pep Rally videos into MTV style music videos.
I remember sitting in the first Pep Rally where my video work was being presented and I heard a kid go, “Whoa! The videos this year actually look dope!” or something to that accord! I was so proud of my work.
I learned to edit video and make motion graphics at Colorado Community Church from an older guy who worked doing the video editing for the church.
This was probably around 2003-2005 that I learned the in’s and out’s of programs like Adobe After Effects & Premiere. I had truly found a new passion.
I spent a lot of time doing editing and motion graphic work, a passion I still enjoy to this day!
Another hobby of mine as a kid/teen was Street Magic!
After getting temporarily turned down from my first job due to my age of 15, I stayed home instead of going into my first day at work and I watched a David Blaine special!
His style and mystique captivated my young attention and although I had learned simple tricks as a younger child, this special invigorated my desire to practice and perform Card Magic, Slight of Hand, & Flourishes.
I spent countless hours on sites like Ellusionist & Penguin Magic, just trying to learn the basics of magic tricks.
I performed magic at Prom with another Magician so I got in for free, and I even shot my own magic special going to 16th Street Mall in Denver & School.
I still practice Street Magic to this day!
I was quite the romantic and dated between 5-10 different girls from school and church in this period.
I was always breaking hearts or getting my heart broken!
My grades continued to suffer deep into high school and during my senior year I was told I would have to pass every single class in order to graduate.
Needless to say the pressure was too high and homework too much and I ended up dropping out and getting my GED.
I passed my GED with Flying Colors getting the highest scores possible in all catagories. This reaffirmed my belief that I wasn’t stupid, I just didn’t like doing homework. I felt 8 hours institutionalized was enough, “learning” for me.
I remember 9/11 like it was yesterday.
We were sitting in Middle School Shop Class and the other side of the Shop Class got to have a TV rolled out as they watched the news, but the teachers were told not to show kids any of the footage after a certain time and I had to wait until I got home to see it.
All we had heard was that planes had hit the World Trade Centers.
We were kids and making lots of jokes like singing, “It’s The End of The World as we Know It,…and I feel FINE!”
Hilarious.
When I got home I got to watch the footage and it was mind-blowing!
My sister was in New York City at the time and had to watch as the towers fell.
Horrifying.
I used to play an online computer game called America’s Army that is still available I believe. It’s a conscription tool used by the US Army to show kids what Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training is like, and then you get to play a Call of Duty style First Person Shooter similar to Call of Duty. Like that is ANYTHING like real war or Combat.
Also I saw a movie called, “The Guardian” with Ashton Kutcher about the Coast Guard and the training montages really inspired me to serve.
The real reason I joined was because of a girl.
She broke my heart and left me in the front of her house clinging to her front door while my best friend had to peel me off. That combined with 9/11, America’s Army & The Guardian convinced me to join the service.
Stay tuned for the next addition to my life story where I will talk about joining The Army, Training & Iraq.
Thanks & see you next time!!!
-Nikolai A. Jackson
