History: Lifelong learning … personified

"Always work on your resumé. Have several resumés, one for each potential job."

Meet David. Curious. Tenacious. Engaging.
Hometown: Willowbrook, Sask.
Program: Bachelor of Arts | Major: History

At 76 years old, David Jackson will walk the stage at Mount Royal University’s morning Convocation Ceremonies on June 13 to collect a degree in history, 50 years after finishing his first.  But what makes his story exceptional and inspirational is that in the fall he’ll be right back at Mount Royal to start another four-year degree, this time pursuing anthropology.

Jackson was born on a Saskatchewan farm and grew up attending elementary and middle school in a one-room prairie schoolhouse. As the story goes, each day he walked to class, in the snow, uphill both ways. Except this time, it’s actually the reality.

“I can explain that,” Jackson jokes, poking fun at the story so many parents have fed their kids over the years.

“There was a creek crossing the road on the way to school, and it was in a deep gully, which meant we had to walk down into the gully and up again twice a day.”

When he entered high school, he was at least upgraded to a bus. But it was an hour-long ride to Yorkton.

While that commute would be enough to make anyone dread attending school, it did not put a damper on Jackson’s thirst for knowledge. After graduating high school, he attended the University of Regina, earning his first degree, a Bachelor of Science — Mathematics, in 1975.

Jackson says his university math courses came easy to him, and he received high marks, while other classes that he found more interesting, such as philosophy, were much more difficult.

“Towards the end of my degree I realized I would need a job. It was the early ‘70s and there were these new things called computers,” Jackson says.

He took several computer science courses, which resulted in a job offer from Gulf Oil in Calgary.

“It was a good offer so I accepted it.”

That was the beginning of two more jobs and several computer contracts that took him to many different Canadian cities and even a role in Dallas, Texas.

Jackson says his years in computing yielded great experiences and he is grateful to his sister, Georgina Jackson, for her consistent support throughout his career, as well as his brother, Lloyd Jackson, and his amazing extended family for their love and kindness. 

A lifetime later, Jackson has finally mastered the liberal arts and has earned a Bachelor of Arts — History from MRU.

“I always loved to learn, so I signed up for a history class with Dr. Scott Murray, and I was hooked. Scott was amazing — he went from one end of the room to the other, never looking at his notes,” Jackson says.

“It's not often that students are interested in learning for its own sake, but David truly is. He treasures his education and understands what a privilege it is to be a student here at MRU. He is also completely unafraid to ask questions, including hard ones — and he's a better student for it,” Murray says, who is an associate professor of history and chair of the Department of Humanities.

Dr. Nazak Birjandifar, PhD, is another one of Jackson’s professors, and echoes Murray’s sentiments. She adds that Jackson is someone who not only works for the outcome of education, but someone who thrives in the process of it.

“What stands out most about David is his genuine love of learning. He’s kind, curious and deeply committed to growing as a thinker. He takes feedback with humility and uses it as fuel for improvement — a quality that’s increasingly rare and so valuable,” Birjandifar says.

“One of the things I admired most about him was his openness — his willingness to challenge his own assumptions and genuinely reconsider his views when presented with new evidence. That kind of intellectual flexibility is not only admirable, it’s essential for meaningful scholarship and personal growth.”

Some of Jackson’s other professors — including Associate Professor Kirk Niergarth, PhD, Instructor Aaron Johnson, PhD, and Professor Joe Anderson, PhD, can also attest to Jackson’s hunger for knowledge and efforts to be an engaged student.

“His commitment to learning and passion for history are admirable and his life experience has allowed him to make a real contribution in the classes we've had together,” Niergarth says.

“I was very impressed with the level of engagement that David showed and with his enthusiasm for learning new things and having his preconceptions challenged. He was a joy to have in class,” Johnson adds.

Jackson is the University’s oldest graduate since 2014, when an 85-year-old received their parchment. 

With no plans to end his educational journey after receiving his history degree, Jackson won a students’ association’s Part-Time Student Award while making his way through his studies. His appetite for learning has him beginning another Bachelor of Arts in anthropology this fall — something that surprises nobody.

Before he leaves MRU to enjoy his summer months, Jackson encourages new or potential students to make sure they’ve put a lot of thought into which courses they take.

“Select a program that interests you, then start working on getting a job with that program,” he says.

“Here's the thing: you are going to switch jobs, so always work on your resumé. Have several resumés, one for each potential job.”

Jackson says one of the most valuable things he learned during his time at MRU — and something other students should take note of — was how to harness the Library’s resources as well as those of the Student Learning Services to nail his essays.

Outside of learning, Jackson says his favourite part of MRU has been getting to meet new people and running in different circles. He is looking forward to joining the students’ association’s Catholic Club upon his return. If he keeps on his current path, it is possible that one day Mount Royal will be graduating an octogenarian.