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First Student To Graduate In May From College To Career Experience Program

Murray State University

Blake Hopkins has said he would go to Murray State since he was a child. But his mother wasn’t sure that dream would come true. There were complications at Blake’s birth that left him intellectually handicapped and doctors weren’t sure he would be able to walk.

But his dream came true.

The 22-year-old is finishing the two-year College to Career Experience program at Murray State which happens to be the first in the state.

Blake is both passionate and determined. He tightly follows his school and work schedules and wants to be an athletic trainer.

“I’m crazy about first aid,” he said. “You have other people’s lives in your hands, and it’s not a laughing around, joking around job. It’s a life or death situation.”

To take his first aid class, his mother Vonda Hopkins drives him to Murray twice a week from South Fulton in Tennessee. She is more than happy to do so since she was told at Blake’s birth that his life would be drastically different from other children’s.

“He was asphyxiated at birth. He had a grade 4 hemorrhage, and so he bled into the ventricles and into the brain,” she said. “And they said, of course, terrible things. He’d probably never walk or talk.”

But now Blake walks to then sits in a classroom, raising his hand with many questions. This semester Frank Pleban is one of his professors. He teaches a Health Behavior class and says he wishes he had classrooms full of Blakes. He’s on time, follows his syllabus and schedule meticulously.

“He’s not afraid to interact with other students in the classroom which is to everyone’s benefit,” Pleban said. “Anytime another student interacts with him it pays off dividends. That’s so very important for later on in life.”

Pleban has so enjoyed having Blake as a student he’s given him a nickname.

“I call him Buddy, and he’s the only one I think I’ve ever, the only student I’ve ever given a nickname to,” he said. “He’s had that kind of impact on me.”

Blake has many other advocates too, including a student-tutor and some lunch buddies who happen to be a group of sorority sisters.

Program Coordinator Sharon Arant makes CCE work within a university setting to ensure Blake is getting the best experience in his classes.  

“Most of our students will audit the courses they take,” she said. “If they audit then I meet with the professor and we change the requirements. The teacher and I sit down and we say, ok, how much of this coursework do they require?

“We generally require everything but if the typical student is writing a ten-page paper our student may write a five-page paper.”

But the program isn’t just about classes. It’s aimed to give students the whole college experience. They do study, but they work and go to social events too.

In fact, Blake has this to say about his job at Murray State’s Wellness Center: “Working is my favorite part of day.”

Blake enthusiastically swipes Murray State Wellness Center patrons’ ID cards and answers the phones. He turns his head every few seconds to check if there is anyone coming in to welcome or someone who needs help. He goes over and over his tightly kept schedule to see if he can fit any extra shifts in, beyond the six hours he works each week.

Blake wants to stay here, even though the job is an internship set up through CCE. In fact, he said he wished they would hire him full time nearly a dozen times in the day I spent with him.

Blake will finish Murray State’s CCE program this spring, and he’ll walk at graduation. After that he’ll get continued support and job coaching through Murray State’s Vocational Rehabilitation Center, which is a financial supporter of the  program.

Although he’s just taken just a handful of classes in his four semesters at Murray State Blake’s mother says the program has been invaluable.

“The self esteem, the all the good things that he’s felt about himself have been worth it alone. Plus, he’s learned a whole lot,” she said.

Sharon Arant says people from all over the country have contacted her about the College to Career Experience program for their children, but there’s one aspect that limits it to people living within the region.

“We have had many, many requests for information but we do not provide housing,” she said. “There’s no residential housing for them in compliance with university policy because you have to be a full time student.”

For now, Arant continues to interview candidates. She’s hoping the program will grow from three to four students each semester.

Whitney grew up listening to Car Talk to and from her family’s beach vacation each year, but it wasn’t until a friend introduced her to This American Life that radio really grabbed her attention. She is a recent graduate from Union University in Jackson, Tenn., where she studied journalism. When she’s not at WKMS, you can find her working on her backyard compost pile and garden, getting lost on her bicycle or crocheting one massive blanket.
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