Knowledge is perhaps one of the few things that cannot be taken from me. Even at a young age, it was always something that was a part of who I was, and to this day who I am. I am curious by nature, I like to know how things work, why they do and what happens if they do not.
My path to studying criminal justice just happened. I started college with the dream and goal of being a nurse. I graduated from Potomac State College of WVU, with a pre-nursing degree. I was rewarded a full scholarship to continue my studies at West Virginia University (WVU).
I did not realize that the criteria for the colleges were vastly different, so I would have had to take an entire extra year of courses just to get into the nursing program at Shepherd. One of the courses I took was Criminal Psychology, and to be honest I was hooked. The medical field is still my baby, and it always will be so I switched career paths to hopefully include both.
I was a mother of two small children and at that point I lost my direction in life. I moved back to my hometown, Fort Ashby because my family was there. That is how I came to attend Allegany College of Maryland, studying criminal justice. I was not sure what my end goals were, but I knew that I wanted to help people.
Now I am finishing my bachelor’s at Shepherd University. Before I began work at Centro, I decided I wanted to be a probation officer. Probation is a form of community correction, in lieu of prison time and I felt that perhaps I could help people get back on track and move forward in a positive direction. I do plan to pursue a masters and possibly a doctorate degree. After all, learning is my hobby.
If you want something, you work for it and you have to have the discipline to follow through. Sometimes there are nights when I am so tired, after making sure the kids are in bed, that I fall asleep on the couch a few moments after I sit down. At the end of the day, just knowing they are happy, healthy and cared for makes it all worth it.
