Marlan LO Dixon '19， '20 MACJ
刑事司法
Marlan LO Dixon '19， '20 MACJ
刑事司法
逆境中成
From the south side of Chicago to Cedar Rapids’ Mound View neighborhood, Marlan “LO” Dixon persevered through adversity to quench his thirst for knowledge.
“我小的时候, in the neighborhood where I’m from, there’s a thing called ‘being on the porch,’”迪克森说. “当你在门廊上的时候,’ your mother doesn’t let you off the front or the back from inside the house. You can’t leave her sight, basically.”
扩大他的根基
他迅速离开门廊, to being able to go across the street to his family members’ and friends’ houses. 探索不同的街区, he was introduced to more people, which allowed him to connect with people even farther from his block.
“It became an adventure,” he said. “Even though it was a small area, it became an adventure.”
Dixon first graduated from college at 19 and learned the world was much bigger than his neighborhood. He then decided to continue his adventure in Iowa.
“My neighborhood was just a lot of people in bad situations, that’s making their environment bad,迪克森说. “I understood that I didn’t want to grow up in that type of environment; I didn’t want to raise my children in that type of environment. So, I knew I had to do something to get out of there.”
I understood that I didn’t want to grow up in that type of environment; I didn’t want to raise my children in that type of environment. So, I knew I had to do something to get out of there.
爱荷华州的冒险
After moving to Iowa, Dixon attended a local community college and graduated at age 28. The negativity in his neighborhood had first motivated him to pursue a higher education. Now, at age 31, his son and daughter are his biggest motivators.
“I wanted them to see that DaDa could actually do it," said Dixon. "They were my motivation because they were beginning to start school—my daughter had started kindergarten and my son was in pre-school—so I was showing them this is what you have to get ready for.”
I wanted them to see that DaDa could actually do it. They were my motivation because they were beginning to start school. I was showing them this is what you have to get ready for.
来到山上
Still thirsty for more knowledge, 迪克森和一位朋友聊了聊, 莫里萨·克拉克，19岁, who was in Mount Mercy’s criminal justice program. She told him about how easily credits from Kirkwood transferred to Mount Mercy.
感兴趣, Dixon spoke with Mount Mercy’s psychology and criminal justice faculty members, and learned his credits would transfer easily. 结果是, Dixon finished his bachelor’s degree in just one year with double majors in criminal justice and psychology.
寻找他的道路
Dixon’s childhood helped shape his career path. As a young child, Dixon wanted to understand more about the law.
“My daddy was incarcerated, and when the police came and got him, I didn’t understand. I wanted to know who are these people and where are they taking my daddy to? So that intrigued me at a young age to try to figure out and understand what is the law. I’ve been researching law since I was a little kid and that started the criminal justice path.”
Psychology intrigued Dixon when he found out it was a study of the mind.
迪克森说他认为, “人们总是说我很聪明, but your mind is inside your brain, so if I understood psychology maybe I could understand myself more,” thus creating his love of psychology.
网络改进
While going through his studies, faculty suggested Dixon go to Mount Mercy’s Academic Center for Excellence (ACE) so that he could work on deepening his writing in order to better understand concepts.
“我必须感谢, 一个, 唯一的, I call him the guru of writing, 本·蒂尔在ACE中心.”
“我必须感谢, 一个, 唯一的, I call him the guru of writing, 本·蒂尔在ACE中心,”迪克森说. “In grammar, you’re not supposed to write in run-on sentences. However, the law is written in run-on sentences.”
Dixon explained that changing how he writes changes how he interprets the law. Thiel understood and helped him develop his writing further. Dixon’s professors also supported him through his Mount Mercy experience by being open to questions, even outside their office hours.
意想不到的识别
At the Honors Convocation held in May 2019, Dixon received the psychology student award. Honors Convocation is a celebration of excellent scholarly work done by MMU students. One student from each department is selected based on their work for that department’s award.
逆境中成长. Every day is not going to be a good day, but you can make it a good day,”
Currently, Dixon is in Mount Mercy’s master’s in criminal justice program. Keeping busy as always, Dixon has two projects outside of his schooling. He’s looking for a publisher for his first book, 《博彩平台》, and recently developed a logo reminding people to look objectively.
逆境中成长. Every day is not going to be a good day, but you can make it a good day,迪克森说.