Jasmine Simpson: World Traveler, International Scholar as a Freshman

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Autumn Mayer, Staff Writer, Journalism I

Jasmine Simpson is a freshman at Notre Dame, but starting high school isn’t even close to the most exciting thing that’s ever happened to her. 

Simpson was born in France, which is where her parents moved after getting married. 

Julie Cook, Simpson’s mother, was born in Texas and grew up in Green Bay, where she attended St. Joseph’s Academy. 

After college, she joined the US Peace Corps and did relief work in Guatemala for three years. 

She went to visit her sister in Barcelona, Spain, where she met her husband, who was born in Scotland. 

Two years after Simpson was born, the family moved to London, where her sister Lily was born. 

They then moved back to Barcelona, where Simpson attended a French school in order to retain the language, which she speaks in addition to Spanish, Italian, English and some Mandarin. 

She went to Benjamin Franklin International School for middle school. 

Her parents got divorced, and both sisters moved to New York City with their mother, who had just gotten a job there. 

Simpson went to Pelham Middle School in New York, but then they moved to Green Bay, where her grandparents lived, when they realized New York wasn’t a good place to be during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“My mother was very excited for us to go to NDA,” Simpson said. “All the schools I have been to have been different; they all have their pros and cons, so it is hard to compare them.” 

Simpson had been to the United States before to visit her grandparents, so the experience of moving wasn’t too much of a shock. 

However, with the pandemic and online-learning she hasn’t had much opportunity to make friends or join sports. 

“This is going to be an exciting next step in my life!” she said.