Former student's legacy lives on through scholarship

John Jackson's friends used to joke that one day John would get rich and all of his friends would be able to live off of him.\nUnfortunately, Jackson didn't live long enough for his friends to cash in. Instead, Jackson's friends are helping others live off the memory of Jackson.\nThe sixth annual Take It Easy Open was held Saturday in memory of John Jackson. Friends, family and others gathered from across the United States to The Links Golf Club in New Palestine, Ind., to participate in a golf scramble that benefits the John M. Jackson Memorial Scholarship.\nJackson, a former Indiana Daily Student editor in chief, died suddenly at the age of 21 from a tragic brain aneurism in 1996. In his memory, his friends and family created a scholarship to help students who were similar to Jackson in their desire to learn journalism hands-on.\nDue to immense support, the scholarship has grown in value from $200 in 1998 to two separate $3,000 dollar scholarships this year. Since the creation of the Take It Easy Open in 2001, the tournament has been able to raise $36,000 on top of this year's proceeds for Jackson's scholarship. \n"The scholarship doesn't go to the person with the best grades," Jackson's friend and tournament organizer JR Ross said. "John really believed you couldn't learn journalism in a classroom, you have to learn doing it."\nThe scholarship is given to (a student) every year at IU who has shown dedication to the IDS and has a special interest in the newspaper business. This year's winners are current IDS editors Sam Nissen and Jessica Wolfe.\nIn 2001, Ross called IU's School of Journalism to see how the scholarship was doing. It was at this point that Ross and several close friends decided to create the Take It Easy Open to help raise money for the scholarship.\n"They all put their heads together," Jackson's mother, Judy McKenzie, said. "They were all buddies and decided to make the tournament the weekend of his birthday."\nThe tournament's name comes from Jackson's favorite song, a hit by The Eagles called "Take It Easy." But the tournament's moniker describes Jackson accurately, as well.\nJackson's friend and former roommate Greg Bardonner described the expression "laid back" as the "perfect terminology" for Jackson.\n"John was great. He was a genius, too. The guy never went to class, then we would all take the test and he'd do better than any of us," Bardonner said.\nMcKenzie agrees.\n"He was real laid back," McKenzie said. "Things came very easy for him."\nBesides being easy going, Jackson was also known for his affectionate personality and his ability to light up a room with laughter.\n"John really touched us and inspired us all," Ross said. "A lot of people feel like John was their best friend. That's the way John could make you feel."\nA message board was passed around at the Take It Easy Open where friends and family could write down some of their favorite memories about Jackson. Most of the comments were funny stories about Jackson and his antics.\n"I remember when Johnny fell through our glass coffee table during a mock wrestling event in our family room!" Kandi Bardonner Murphy wrote. \nIn honor of Jackson's personality, Jackson's stepfather Mark designed Jackson's gravestone. The gravestone features things that Jackson loved, including a Chicago Cubs logo and a guitar, the instrument Jackson loved.\nGuitar was just one of the things that came easy to Jackson. At the age of 18 months Jackson began reading the newspaper, his mother said. \n"At the age of 3, he told me, 'Mom, someday I'm going to have a book about me.' And when he passed away, the IDS created a bound book with all of his articles in it. And I always think of that as his book," she said.\nMcKenzie also remembers her son having a profound ability to memorize information, particularly sports-related trivia.\n"Kids would ask, 'Can John come out and play?'" she said. "And starting at the age of 8, out on our porch, the kids would hold up sports cards of players like Kent Benson and John could tell them what college he went to and all of his statistics."\nThe scholarship in honor of Jackson's life has been able to help many students so far. McKenzie hopes the scholarship continues to be helpful and can become self-reliant.\n"Eventually I want the scholarship to be able to be on its own. I don't want these boys to have to come back and do this tournament forever," she said.\nAs McKenzie sat on the eight hole during the Take It Easy Open, she wondered out loud: "Wouldn't it be cool, if one day an IU student walked in and said, 'Man, I hope I win the John Matthew Jackson Scholarship'?"\nA decade after her son's passing, McKenzie hopes her son's spirit lives on in a positive way.\n"It'd make me feel good to know his death could somehow help others," she said.