In 2013, Aubrey Stephens joined the JAG program at Eastern Hancock High School. Now ten years later, Stephens knows JAG placed her on a better path to success.
“I was recommended for that program, honestly for transparency’s sake probably because I was a little bit of a wild child. I grew up in a home where my parents were both addicts and we weren’t really well off financially,” Stephens said.
Stephens found stability and success in JAG, winning the Career Development Conference (CDC) in the writing competition, as well as becoming JAG Career Association President for Eastern Hancock High School. She was able to inspire other JAG students through her example of overcoming adversity.
“I thought it was interesting because I could be kind of like a mentor to the newer members of JAG and kind of explain where I started off at and where they could go as well,” Stephens said.
One of her favorite aspects of the JAG program was the support from her JAG Specialist, Greg Judy. Both Stephens and her younger sister went through the JAG program under Judy’s guidance. He acted as a mentor to them while they were experiencing family hardships including addiction and homelessness.
“Mr. Judy was just a really big support for us and helped us to feel supportive and like we were important and really pushed us to strive to meet our own goals, just so that we wouldn’t repeat that history of family trauma,” Stephens said. “That meant a lot to me now that I am an adult and able to understand that.”
Stephens graduated from Eastern Hancock High School in 2015 and attended Indiana State University. She graduated college in 2019 with a double major in political science and criminal justice and a double minor in legal studies and law administration. With help from JAG, Stephens became more knowledgeable about the college admissions process.
“JAG helped me to learn how to apply for college and FAFSA, as well as employability skills. I worked 2 to 3 jobs all throughout college to pay for it, just to pay for my housing because I was a 21st Century Scholar, but despite that I had to pay for everything else on my own. It also taught me really good time management skills,” Stephens said.
After college graduation, Stephens worked for three years as a family case manager for the Department of Child Services with the State of Indiana. She currently is a wraparound facilitator for Aspire Indiana and works part-time licensing foster parents for the State of Indiana. JAG helped Stephens build confidence in herself to enter the workforce.
“It taught me that my greatest strength can also be my greatest weakness, meaning that something I struggle with is I get really anxious and I struggle with imposter syndrome because of my background, but JAG also taught me that that is a good thing because it shows me that I truly care and that I can use my own negative experiences to positively impact the kids and people I work with now,” Stephens said.
As Stephens navigates her adult life, she still holds JAG close to her heart. She remains in contact with Judy, even giving virtual and in-person presentations to current Eastern Hancock JAG students about her experience and how she benefitted from JAG. Stephens especially wants to inspire JAG students that face hardships like she did.
“It is just really good to have that guidance into the adult world. We all know that even for kids without those factors, being an adult is hard. I am not perfect, but I feel like (JAG) perfectly prepared me the best it could to be an adult,” Stephens said.
Stephens feels that Judy and the Eastern Hancock JAG Program steered her life in a positive direction. The JAG community provided Stephens and her sister encouragement to attend college, enter the workforce, and break the cycle of addiction in her family.
“I truly feel that the JAG program and Greg Judy especially steered my life in a good direction. I feel like I could have easily gone down a negative path, whether that be taking part in addiction myself or getting into trouble since I was a homeless teen,” Stephens said. “I feel like he forced me in a very professional way, as teachers do, to be on the right track and seek better for myself. That means a lot to me now that I am an adult.”
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