【bet36365体育】B.S. program helps drive transfer student Sarah Keller towards her goals

内布拉斯加大学 at Kearney’s 网上社会工作 student Sarah Keller is an overcomer. 
 
Hard work and resiliency transitioned Keller from being an inmate at the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in Blair, Nebraska to working there as a corrections officer. Keller’s dedication to her education allowed her to overcome her fears of attending a university, which in turn landed her a position as a case manager where she helps others overcome their challenges.   
 
“I had to kind of evaluate that when I went into the social work field,凯勒说 about her incarceration history and struggles with alcohol addiction. “But everything is more than seven years old, so it won't affect my placement in the social work program. 这是我生活中很重要的一部分.” 
 
Now seven years sober, her past has deepened her passion for helping others. Keller first worked for Washington County Sheriff’s Office in the jail’s kitchen until the captain at the jail offered her a position as a corrections officer.  

克服繁文缛节 

“That has always been something I've been super interested in because I have spent quite a bit of time in the past incarcerated actually in that jail,凯勒说. “So, it was a really big deal for me to get offered a position to work there full-time.” 
 
Keller accepted the position eager to help people overcome their own obstacles but found that the position was not all she had hoped. 
 
“There's a lot of red tape that goes into being a corrections officer,凯勒说. “They don't really want you to form relationships and a lot of the people who came in, I knew them from growing up in Blair. 这对我来说真的很难.” 
 
Keller knew she could do more to assist those facing hardships, so after graduating from Metropolitan Community College in 五月。 of 2022 she enrolled in bet36365体育’s online social work program.  
 
“It’s slightly cheaper than UNO,凯勒说 about her decision on choosing bet36365体育. “I felt like I needed to do all of my work online. I don’t have time to go to class in person, which would have been the main reason for choosing UNO because it’s local.”

克服恐惧 

Though the price was right for Keller, she feared transferring from a two-year community college to a university would be too difficult to conquer. 
 
“I just always had this idea in my head that going to a university would be over the top way more difficult than Metro was. I'm not really 100% sure why that idea was in my head, but it was very firm in my head. I think that I just really didn't know if I was capable of it,” she said. 
 
Keller overcame her fears and learned after starting the program that she was more than capable of earning a degree from a university. 
 
“我真的是。, really terrified that I wouldn't have the time and that I wouldn't be able to stay organized enough. I thought that the course load would be a huge difference from Metro,” Keller continued. “事实并非如此.” 
 
After receiving an A in both spring semester courses, she is ready to kick it into high gear. 
 
“I started with the two classes and I'm taking two classes over the summer. Then I'm going to ramp up to taking three at a time. 在目睹了这一切之后, 我绝对能应付三个, which is good because I'll get done faster,凯勒说. 

征服的目标 

One of the courses Keller aced was an ethics course that required a service-learning project, which Keller completed at Together, 奥马哈的一个无家可归者收容所. 
 
“I feel like my ethics course kind of pushed me into my current job,” she said. 
 
After only a week of volunteering, a case manager position opened at the shelter and Keller was encouraged to apply.  
 
“I'm not sure that without being enrolled in a social work program that I would have been given the opportunity to have this job,凯勒说. “Them knowing that I'm working towards a degree in this area, I think was really helpful to me getting the position.” 
 
Her new position allows her the ability to utilize her knowledge and talents to best assist her clients.  
 
“Everyone's just on the same level of compassion and understanding. It's a lot better environment for what my goals are in life and the way that I want to be treating people,凯勒说. 
 
Keller has overcome so much and hopes to continue her education with a master’s degree in social work to become a therapist. 
 
“对我来说, 我有孩子, 全职工作, I'm in AA and I go to multiple meetings a week, 我在活动上发言, 我在上兼职学校,凯勒说. “I just really want people to know that it is possible, even if you have a lot of things working against you.”