Three degrees sharper
New DeSoto Center counselor heard education calling
Thomas Busler/The Commercial Appeal
James Edwards, DeSoto Center regional admissions counselor, went through the 2+2 program to get an associate's degree and two bachelor's degrees at the school. In his new job, he recruits others to follow in his footsteps.
Commercial Appeal
By Jimmie Covington
Contact
June 2, 2006
After he graduated from Olive Branch High School in 1986, James Edwards gave college a try but it didn't work for him.
He spent about nine years working in a paint manufacturing plant, stacking cans of water sealer, operating a forklift in the warehouse, reworking paint returns. In 1998, he started his own commercial cleaning and janitorial business.
He didn't know it at the time, but the halls of academia and a job that would satisfy him like no other were quietly awaiting him.
Edwards, who now holds a community college degree and two bachelor's degrees, was hired in February as regional
admissions counselor at the University of Mississippi at DeSoto Center in Southaven.
"I love it," Edwards, 38, said of the college atmosphere and his job at the center, where he received his associate degree from Northwest Mississippi Community College and his bachelor's degrees from Ole Miss.
A lifetime DeSoto County resident, he received his degrees through the 2 + 2 program at the center, two years in NWCC classes and two years in Ole Miss classes.
Edwards was making a living with the cleaning business, but in an effort to improve life for himself and his family he decided in 1999 that he would go to truck driver school and obtain his commercial driver's license.
However, the idea of returning to college had also remained with him, and when he enrolled at NWCC, which offers a driver training program, he decided to take some business courses, including a business law course. He started thinking about going to law school.
He received a bachelor's degree in liberal arts in 2003 but did not gain admission to law school.
Edwards had come to love being in higher education and being at the DeSoto Center campus. He started working part-time as an office clerk for Ole Miss and part-time at FedEx. He also began work on a bachelor's degree in criminal justice.
He submitted an application for a full-time job at Ole Miss and took a job with the state Department of Corrections as a probation and parole officer last July. Working in Hernando, where he and his family live, he began serving as an officer although he could not carry out all of the duties since he did not have a required law enforcement certification.
He received his criminal justice degree in December and entered the officer training academy in January. Three weeks later, Ole Miss officials invited him to interview for the counselor's job. The interview went well and he was hired.
Dr. Bonnie Buntin, Ole Miss dean at DeSoto Center, said Edwards is impressive.
"James Edwards is an example to other students of what can be done," she said. "He has had an eye on the goal and was just steadfast. ... He has great grades. ... He values education. He is committed to community."
Edwards said he liked working in criminal justice, but higher education is the place for him.
"I enjoy helping people who want to better themselves and try to make a better life for themselves," he said. "I see a lot of myself in that."
-- Jimmie Covington: (662) 996-1406
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