where are they now?
by shelby lane
[email protected]
My name is Matthew Maestas. My story is a little bit different than others you might have heard before. I am not the typical student who decided what I wanted to be when I was in my junior year of high school and stuck with it my whole life. However, I strongly believe that every path I have taken has helped me become who I am and Bainbridge State College has made me an overall better man from the things that I was taught in my time there.
Straight out of high school in Marietta Georgia in 1995 I went to Kennesaw State University as a freshman. I lasted about 2 semesters before I ran out of HOPE and had a poor GPA. After basically flunking out, my retired father and my mother, a registered nurse, both wanted to move down to Bainbridge where my mom’s family was all from and to also get me into a college close to home. This just so happened to be Bainbridge State College.
In 1998 I went to Bainbridge College and started in the Business Administration Degree. I started working for the college in the Technical Division when Dr. Robert Coker was the Director. During my time there I had a ton of positive influence on me and would always express the importance of continuing my education. I never knew how much his influence meant until years later. While working in the Technical Division at the college I was also working with Mr. Fordham who was one of the Accounting Professors there. I would help by tutoring his Accounting classes. During the 1999 early 2000 school year, Bainbridge College started the Ambassador Program under the President’s office. I was lucky to be chosen to be a member of it and was honored. I had actually gotten to a point where I felt like I belonged somewhere and my grades had drastically improved during my time at Bainbridge College.
In late 2000 my time at Bainbridge College was over as I graduated with my Associates Degree in Business Administration (Accounting) and was accepted once again at Valdosta State University to start the fall of 2000. I moved over to Valdosta and shortly after I began working as an assistant in the Admissions Division while completing classes towards my Accounting Bachelors. Living in another city while going to college then proved to me once again that my grades would slip. However, I graduated in 2002 with my Bachelors in Business Admin (Accounting/Finance) but did so with a GPA that was not my best.
After working in accounting and being a student full time, I realized that accounting may not be what I wanted to stay in forever. In late 2002 after graduating, I decided to leave the accounting world and became a City Police Officer with the Valdosta Police Department. I stayed there until mid-2006 as a patrol officer and gradually moved my way up the ladder finishing my police career being a Sergeant of Investigations after 10 years of service. While employed there I was also the Teacher for the Campus Crime Prevention which allowed me to work with students and teach them about the subject matter and a more personal side of law enforcement. This struck a new spark in me as I decided to change careers, again.
Towards the end of 2006, I decided I wanted to get my Masters. I applied and was promptly rejected due to a non-qualifying GPA from Valdosta so many years before. Shortly after receiving the rejection notice, I decided to go to the Department Chairs office and inquire about what could be done to help me. As God took it into His hands and I spent a lot of time praying, I was given the chance to get into the Master’s program.
I graduated in 2009 with my Masters in Public Administration with a 4.0 GPA and went into the Doctorate of Public Administration for about 2 semesters until transferring to the Education Leadership Doctorate. I decide to leave law enforcement for good and I was hired at Georgia Military College fulltime as the Director of Admissions/Assistant Dean of Students.
My goal is to use all my past stories and experiences to work my way to being a Vice President of Student Affairs and with some prayers and faith, maybe a President of a smaller college somewhere if it is meant to be. At 40 years of age now, I do not really know where the road will take me but I do know that I gave up a long time ago trying to drive my life and have left that to my faith in God. He has done a much better job than I ever did. I am looking to do a proposal defense this November and will be completely done and graduated with my Doctorate in Education Leadership in May of 2017.
My name is Matthew Maestas. My story is a little bit different than others you might have heard before. I am not the typical student who decided what I wanted to be when I was in my junior year of high school and stuck with it my whole life. However, I strongly believe that every path I have taken has helped me become who I am and Bainbridge State College has made me an overall better man from the things that I was taught in my time there.
Straight out of high school in Marietta Georgia in 1995 I went to Kennesaw State University as a freshman. I lasted about 2 semesters before I ran out of HOPE and had a poor GPA. After basically flunking out, my retired father and my mother, a registered nurse, both wanted to move down to Bainbridge where my mom’s family was all from and to also get me into a college close to home. This just so happened to be Bainbridge State College.
In 1998 I went to Bainbridge College and started in the Business Administration Degree. I started working for the college in the Technical Division when Dr. Robert Coker was the Director. During my time there I had a ton of positive influence on me and would always express the importance of continuing my education. I never knew how much his influence meant until years later. While working in the Technical Division at the college I was also working with Mr. Fordham who was one of the Accounting Professors there. I would help by tutoring his Accounting classes. During the 1999 early 2000 school year, Bainbridge College started the Ambassador Program under the President’s office. I was lucky to be chosen to be a member of it and was honored. I had actually gotten to a point where I felt like I belonged somewhere and my grades had drastically improved during my time at Bainbridge College.
In late 2000 my time at Bainbridge College was over as I graduated with my Associates Degree in Business Administration (Accounting) and was accepted once again at Valdosta State University to start the fall of 2000. I moved over to Valdosta and shortly after I began working as an assistant in the Admissions Division while completing classes towards my Accounting Bachelors. Living in another city while going to college then proved to me once again that my grades would slip. However, I graduated in 2002 with my Bachelors in Business Admin (Accounting/Finance) but did so with a GPA that was not my best.
After working in accounting and being a student full time, I realized that accounting may not be what I wanted to stay in forever. In late 2002 after graduating, I decided to leave the accounting world and became a City Police Officer with the Valdosta Police Department. I stayed there until mid-2006 as a patrol officer and gradually moved my way up the ladder finishing my police career being a Sergeant of Investigations after 10 years of service. While employed there I was also the Teacher for the Campus Crime Prevention which allowed me to work with students and teach them about the subject matter and a more personal side of law enforcement. This struck a new spark in me as I decided to change careers, again.
Towards the end of 2006, I decided I wanted to get my Masters. I applied and was promptly rejected due to a non-qualifying GPA from Valdosta so many years before. Shortly after receiving the rejection notice, I decided to go to the Department Chairs office and inquire about what could be done to help me. As God took it into His hands and I spent a lot of time praying, I was given the chance to get into the Master’s program.
I graduated in 2009 with my Masters in Public Administration with a 4.0 GPA and went into the Doctorate of Public Administration for about 2 semesters until transferring to the Education Leadership Doctorate. I decide to leave law enforcement for good and I was hired at Georgia Military College fulltime as the Director of Admissions/Assistant Dean of Students.
My goal is to use all my past stories and experiences to work my way to being a Vice President of Student Affairs and with some prayers and faith, maybe a President of a smaller college somewhere if it is meant to be. At 40 years of age now, I do not really know where the road will take me but I do know that I gave up a long time ago trying to drive my life and have left that to my faith in God. He has done a much better job than I ever did. I am looking to do a proposal defense this November and will be completely done and graduated with my Doctorate in Education Leadership in May of 2017.