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Queen prepares for crowning

 

You may have seen a tweet or flyer inviting you to attend the coronation of Miss Grambling, Geralka “Gerri” Jackson, today in T.H. Harris Auditorium at 7 p.m.  Some of you are wondering, 

“What exactly is coronation?” or “Who is this Geralka Jackson?”  

Geralka “Gerri” Jackson is a native daughter of Louisiana; hailing from Monroe.  She is a graduate of Ouachita Parish High School where she held the title of Miss Ouachita in 2008.  She is the daughter of Mr. Jamie and Dr. Carolyn Jackson, an assistant professor in The Department of Educational Leadership.   Jackson’s older sister, Janet and cousin Kourtney held the titles of Miss Black Dynasty, Miss Krimson and Kreme, Miss Cover Girl, and captain of the Orchesis dance team respectively.  With tiger royalty in her bloodline, it was apparent that Gerri was destined for greatness at GSU.

Reflecting on her experiences carrying titles such as Miss Black Dynasty and Miss Cover Girl 2011-2012, Jackson views her previous titles as stepping-stones. 

“They set me up for this…I made mistakes serving in those positions but I was able to learn from them, so I know now how to be a better queen; I know how to reign with poise, elegance, and dignity.  I know how to represent this university to the best of my abilities,” said Jackson.

 Included in her vision for the university of “ACTION + UNITY = CHANGE” is the “Make the Date” campaign designed to help students register in a timely manner so that the dispersing of refunds may be expedited.  Jackson poses the question, “How can we as a student body make things different to see positive results?”  

One of Jackson’s largest focus areas is unifying the students beyond being #GramFam for Twitter and InstaGram. The incumbent Miss GSU wants the campus to be #GramFam holistically.    

“Family supports each other through good times and bad times; that is a true family…I want to see my family excel; I want to see #GramFam excel and in order to do that we all must get involved and come together,” said Jackson.  

For those young ladies that have aspirations of one day wearing the crown as Miss Grambling, Jackson had these pearls of wisdom to offer, “Surround yourself with people who encourage you and believe in you; people who want to see you succeed.” 

Jackson confessed there were times when seeing her dreams come to fruition was difficult.  “I didn’t get to this position by myself; it was all of the people who helped, supported, and prayed for me.”  

Jackson encourages all students who have dreams to follow them.  “If you have a dream, achieve it, because this was my dream and because I had people who believed in me and I prayed and believed in myself, my dream is coming true,” she concluded.