Student Profile
Jeremy Culberson, 鈥榟umans helping humans鈥�
Jeremy Culberson stumbled into his first human services job as a residential care provider. He鈥檚 stayed in the field ever since, and now he鈥檚 attending SMCC to advance his career.
Soon after moving to Portland in 2010, Jeremy was hired at the Shalom House, a nonprofit organization that operates residential programs for mentally ill clients. He was later promoted to assistant program manager.
He鈥檚 now a case manager for a Maine Behavioral Healthcare Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) team in support of clients who have major mental illness and are in life-threatening situations.
Jeremy enrolled in SMCC鈥檚 Human Services program this fall so he could get his full Mental Health Rehabilitation Technician/Community (MHRT/C) certification while also earning an Associate in Applied Science degree in Human Services.
After he graduates from SMCC, he plans to continue his education and earn bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 degrees and become a Licensed Master Social Worker. He hopes to eventually have a private practice working with people with mental illness and substance abuse problems.
鈥淚 love the human services field because of the direct human contact. It鈥檚 humans helping humans the best way we know how. Any form of social work is the foundation of community.鈥�
Student Profile
Joshua Parks, politics calling
Joshua Parks wasn鈥檛 sure of his future direction until he met U.S. Sen. Angus King and Rep. Chellie Pingree at an event in 2016. It was then that he decided politics was for him and that he should study political science.
Politics was big in Joshua鈥檚 home when he was growing up. His grandmother talked regularly about JFK and LBJ 鈥� Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Baines Johnson 鈥� and his great-grandfather was a candidate for Congress in 1966.
But when he graduated high school in 2011, he took some time off because he didn鈥檛 know what he wanted to do.
That changed after he met King and Pingree and came to the realization that maybe there was a place for him in the political world.
He came to SMCC in 2016 and enrolled in the Political Science program. He鈥檚 active on the Student Senate, serving as its public relations director, and hopes to have a future in politics. He鈥檚 even writing a novel that focuses on an 鈥渋deal politician鈥� based in the year 2045.
鈥淚 love being on this campus. I wish I were here all the time. I鈥檓 glad I know where I want to be.鈥�