By Georgia McManus

Upper School history teacher Nate Jackson currently works at Collegiate School, but there is far more to him than meets the eye. After playing ice hockey all throughout his childhood and into his adult years, Jackson has become a skilled and successful hockey player, continuing the sport to this day. 

Born in Virginia, Jackson grew up in suburban Maryland just outside of Washington D.C. with his older brother and parents. Both Jackson and his brother played ice hockey growing up, causing an ongoing yet good-natured competition between the two. Considering they lived near a rink, the sport quickly became an important part of their lives. Jackson was a self-proclaimed “Caps fan before anyone really knew who the Caps were.” Although he doesn’t see himself moving back to his hometown in Maryland, Jackson says that he may some day move back to his parents’ northern roots in Rhode Island. Although he has tossed around this idea, he considers it a “distant, romantic dream” as of now; a plan for sometime far in the future. 

Jackson with his son at the rink. Photo courtesy of Nate Jackson.

As a child and teen, Jackson attended public schools in Prince George’s County, Maryland, Gonzaga College High School (a Jesuit boys school in Washington, DC), and Phillips Exeter Academy, a boarding school in New Hampshire. Looking back at his time in Prince George’s, Jackson feels that his exposure to public school was beneficial for him and “helped shape my identity.” At Gonzaga, he fit in with the hockey team there and socialized with his teammates, but Jackson claims the transition “was a little bit of a culture shock” from Prince George’s. Over his time at Gonzaga, Jackson finally became skilled enough both athletically and academically to entertain the idea of playing hockey after high school. Jackson transferred his junior year to Phillips Exeter Academy, which he found to be an easier transition than when he transferred to Gonzaga. 

Throughout his high school years, Jackson sometimes felt like he did not quite fit in, especially at Gonzaga. By the time he had arrived at both Gonzaga and Phillips Exeter, everyone had already found their people and formed tight-knit friend groups. He bluntly states, “I was very awkward, like horribly awkward,” highlighting his underdeveloped social skills at the time. He now looks back on his past self and says he does not think that he gained very strong social skills until he began teaching. Having to communicate with large groups of people allowed him to get more comfortable with public speaking and expressing himself.

Jackson received offers from Brown, Harvard, and Yale to play hockey but ultimately decided on Yale. Upon visiting the campus, he was blown away at its architectural and cultural beauty. He then watched a hockey game there for the first time and noticed the stands were packed with excited fans, recalling “the environment was just electric.” After visiting several other colleges, Jackson claims “my fate was sealed,” knowing he had to go to Yale, otherwise he’d forever regret it. After committing, Jackson quickly discovered how hard it was to balance being a Division I athlete and an Ivy League student. It felt like he was constantly “competing with the smartest kids in the world,” but could never get ahead due to his hockey obligations. Nonetheless, Jackson maintained sufficient grades while on the team.

Jackson as number 16 on the ice at a game while playing for Yale. Photo credit: Yale University.

At the tail end of his senior year, the coach of a professional French hockey team, Les Rapaces de Gap, reached out to Jackson over email to recruit him. Excited at the thought of playing professional hockey in France, Jackson decided he had to go and quickly accepted the offer. In doing so, Jackson was taking what he thought of as “a leap of faith,” considering he was to show up in a foreign country with no background in the language and stay there for 9-10 months. Living in France, Jackson not only had a great experience on his team, but he also fell in love with cooking and enjoyed the “next level of independence” that came with finishing college. 

Jackson played for Les Rapaces de Gap in a blue jersey as number seven. Photo credit: Les Rapaces de Gap.

Although he loved his hockey career, Jackson “just kind of fell into the whole teaching thing,” while still living in France and actively playing. Because he had so much free time, Jackson found himself teaching English to kids while simultaneously learning French from them at a local community center. He claims that while first teaching, “there was a sense of comfort” he got from it, and it was truly enjoyable. Upon his resignation from professional hockey, his experience teaching in France ultimately led him to transition to teaching at a school in America. 

When asked about the reason he stopped playing, Jackson says, “I ask myself that all the time… I don’t know if I have a great answer.” France felt somewhat isolating, as he began to lose touch with friends and family in America. He was also physically beat up and emotionally burnt out at that point, with a bad hip and two hurt shoulders. Although he is more than satisfied with where he is today, Jackson states, “If I knew I was going to end up teaching after everything, I probably could have played a few more years and had a good time.”

Jackson now has a three-and-a-half year old son who has taken up the majority of his free time. He states, “My kid runs my life,” because if his son needs him, he knows he has to be there. Between cooking dinners, playing with his son, and putting his kid to bed, Jackson has had to adjust his work life to best utilize free time there. Because his son takes up so much of his time, “the free Saturdays to crush 20 DBQ’s don’t exist anymore.” Because his wife has a full-time job as a lawyer in downtown Richmond, she has had to adjust in the same way as Jackson. Although it can be difficult balancing his work and home life, Jackson and his wife always try to give their kid as much family time as possible. He knows that “having a kid is time consuming, especially if you want to do it right.” Even with all the hectic and chaotic days in his household, Jackson says “It’s totally worth it,” and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Before officially starting his teaching career, Jackson coached varsity hockey at his old high school, Gonzaga College, for six years in Washington, DC. Jackson moved to Richmond in the summer of 2014, just before getting married. He began teaching at Collegiate School in fall 2015 and now teaches AP US History, US History, History of the Middle East, and AP Microeconomics. He is also the JV golf coach at Collegiate and used to coach middle school football. 

Currently, Jackson is a part of Buzzed Hockey Club here in Richmond. Knowing he had to continue playing hockey somehow after moving to Richmond, Jackson messaged the team captain and luckily received a response. After joining in the winter of 2014, the team quickly realized Jackson was a great asset to the team. Most people in the team did not play hockey in college, so he took it upon himself to bring pieces of northern hockey culture to the table.

Jackson playing at the final BuzzedHC game of the season in October 2021 as number 16. Photo credit: Jack Ratchford (‘22).

When students from Collegiate school, led by Max McManus (‘22), showed up to several of BuzzedHC’s hockey games decked out in spirit-wear and posters this past fall, Jackson says his teammates “loved every bit of it.” For Jackson, it was more like a “blast from the past,” but many other players had never played in front of a real audience before at all. They were all saying, “Kids are actually here to watch us play? We’re just a bunch of old men!” 

After seeing such incredible turnouts at the BuzzedHC games, the team asked Jackson why there isn’t a hockey team for Collegiate, to which Jackson said, “I don’t know. Why isn’t there?” Perhaps a Collegiate ice hockey team is just a far off, wishful dream for the Collegiate sports program, but “if it’s ever going to happen, I’m the guy to do it.”

The “student section” in red-themed spirit wear was at the final BuzzedHC game of the season. Photo credit: Jack Ratchford (‘22).

Featured image credit: Yale University.