{"id":6041,"date":"2017-03-31T13:57:45","date_gmt":"2017-03-31T18:57:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/?p=6041"},"modified":"2017-03-31T13:58:27","modified_gmt":"2017-03-31T18:58:27","slug":"student-finds-value-higher-education-via-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/2017\/student-finds-value-higher-education-via-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Student finds value in higher education via program"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Pam Ward has learned the importance of receiving a higher education courtesy of one of many 2+2 agreements between South Arkansas Community College and Southern Arkansas University.<\/p>\n

Ward, a non-traditional student from El Dorado, Ark., earned her Associate of Arts degree and Associate of Applied Science in Criminal Justice at SouthArk in El Dorado and transferred to SAU in January 2016. She is pursuing a bachelor\u2019s degree in Criminal Justice and a minor in Psychology. She did not begin her college career until she was in her mid-40s, after an academic start that seemed less than promising.<\/p>\n

\u201cI graduated in 1987 from El Dorado High School,\u201d she said recently. \u201cMy family didn\u2019t have a lot. I was a low-scoring student, and I suffered from low self-esteem. I grew up in the projects, so people already looked down on you. What I went through as a child is the reason I want to do this today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ward said she never felt she got enough support at home to be a good student. \u201cPeople say, \u2018it starts in the home,\u2019 but you don\u2019t know what kind of home a child comes from. I hate to hear that phrase. I just didn\u2019t feel like I mattered.\u201d<\/p>\n

I always said that my mind was too old, but I knew I had to do something. I had experienced a big drop in pay which devastated me, but my friend encouraged me to get my degree. I enrolled the following semester, in 2012.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

After high school, Ward worked a variety of jobs, \u201cday care, security, pizza, any job,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve worked since I was 16 years old. I did think about college, but it just wasn\u2019t a reality for me, money-wise, support-wise, any of that kind of stuff. I\u2019d had a child by the age of 14. My main thing was to work and pay my bills.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a divorce and an economic setback, she started thinking about college, especially after a friend who was a police dispatcher encouraged her to enroll at SouthArk. \u201cI always said that my mind was too old, but I knew I had to do something. I had experienced a big drop in pay which devastated me, but my friend encouraged me to get my degree. I enrolled the following semester, in 2012.\u201d<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t have a degree plan or career path at first. Tests suggested she might pursue a career in law enforcement, \u201cbut I thought, \u2018no, that wouldn\u2019t be me.\u2019 As I went on with my psychology classes, I began to think, \u2018OK, this is kind of where I want to go.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Experience in her local community nudged her toward psychology and criminal justice.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t a juvenile delinquent, but I could have been,\u201d she said. \u201cOnce you get labeled a \u2018bad child,\u2019 it follows you. I saw a lot of children with that label, and people look at that instead of what the child might be going through. It takes the right kind of person to talk to and work with these kids. I wanted to make a difference in that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said it is important to help people \u2013 teens and adults \u2013 going \u201cround and round in the criminal justice system. Once I decided on my major at SouthArk, I knew I was gonna help teens. But I realized that not only teens but adults need help because of the lack of jobs and education.\u201d<\/p>\n

Without those, she said, \u201coffenders are going to come right back into the system. It\u2019s hard to get a job, but if you are a non-violent felon, it\u2019s 20 times harder to get one. We\u2019re missing out on some good workers.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said she wants to encourage non-violent offenders to get job training and an education. \u201cIf you give them encouragement, there is a good chance they won\u2019t do it again. Sometimes people are just trying to feed their families. Everybody can change. I changed. People just need the tools.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ward said she \u201cfell in love\u201d with her psychology courses at SouthArk. \u201cMy professors were awesome, I loved my Criminal Justice classes, and I felt like it was my calling. I like helping people. I thought, \u2018maybe this is what I want to do.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

I had no idea the workload or the time you had to put in to pass just one class. I took four classes, thinking, \u2018that\u2019s nothing.\u2019 Once I got over that first semester, I was good.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Her first semester, though, was something of a personal struggle.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe anxiety level when I started was off the chart,\u201d she said. \u201cI had no idea the workload or the time you had to put in to pass just one class. I took four classes, thinking, \u2018that\u2019s nothing.\u2019 Once I got over that first semester, I was good.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a non-traditional student, Ward said she immediately understood that she \u201chad to want\u201d to succeed in college. \u201cYou have to make that choice,\u201d she said. \u201cYou have to say to yourself, \u2018this is what I need to know.\u2019 That\u2019s why some students only stay in it one or two semesters and then drop out \u2013 they don\u2019t get it yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said a community college such as SouthArk is the right place for many students because \u201cthey\u2019re not hundreds of miles from home and can get the feel of the workload. My oldest daughter was glad I encouraged her to go local, and she started at SouthArk before transferring to Conway. You don\u2019t have all the clubs and partying, your main focus is on school work.\u201d<\/p>\n

It boosted my self-esteem, which had been terribly low forever.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She understands the difficulties many students experience, trying to balance life with college. \u201cTraditional students have jobs, they have children, and my hat is off to them. My youngest daughter is graduating from high school in May, and I don\u2019t have to tend to any non-self-sufficient children. I can do all the studying I want; half my bed is dedicated to books for class. I know my mindset is right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Encouragement and support are necessary to success, she said. \u201cWhen I started getting good grades, I got a lot of support from family and friends, and I even had a whole new set of friends by then, so that made me feel good about myself. It boosted my self-esteem, which had been terribly low forever. When you feel you\u2019re supported, it gives you the motivation to do something.\u201d<\/p>\n

She enjoyed a smooth transition from SouthArk to SAU. \u201cIt was an adjustment to the larger student population,\u201d she said, \u201cbut I have great professors and great support, and I\u2019m enjoying my classes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ward said she likes to \u201craise my hand and ask questions because I know the younger students all have the same questions I do. You can see the relief on their faces.\u201d<\/p>\n

The importance of higher education has impressed itself on Ward.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnything is possible with a college education,\u201d she said. \u201cYou have to find positive people to encourage you. I can see both sides because of where I grew up. If you keep hearing that you\u2019re never going to amount to anything, you start taking it seriously. You start living it. You have to get around positive people. You can no longer make it on a high school diploma, you have to get a college education to make it in this world, or learn some kind of trade.\u201d<\/p>\n

She is interning with the Arkansas Department of Corrections in El Dorado and will graduate from SAU in May. While she hasn\u2019t yet decided on a career, she\u2019s thinking about getting her master\u2019s and perhaps working in the non-profit sector.<\/p>\n

The 2+2 program allows students to start with a high school diploma and add two years for an associate\u2019s degree from SouthArk, then transfer to SAU for two more years toward a bachelor\u2019s degree. Courses\u00a0 that are currently offered between SouthArk and SAU include social work; criminal justice; industrial technology; accounting; finance; marketing; psychology, and education.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re always looking for ways to provide opportunities for students to achieve their goals and dreams,\u201d said Dr. David Lanoue, provost and vice-president of Academic Affairs for SAU. \u201cOur partnerships with community colleges are a big part of that. We have a number of 2+2 programs with SouthArk, Sau Tech, and beyond. These programs provide a chance for students who might not otherwise be able to seek a college degree. We\u2019re proud of these programs and of the students who graduate from them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pam Ward has learned the importance of receiving a higher education courtesy of one of many 2+2 agreements between South Arkansas Community College and Southern Arkansas University. Ward, a non-traditional student from El Dorado, Ark., earned her Associate of Arts degree and Associate of Applied Science in Criminal Justice at SouthArk in El Dorado and… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":564,"featured_media":6042,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[271,297,207,276,7753,288],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6041"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/564"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6041"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6041\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}