From a rocky, drug-addled start, to proudly marching in Saturday’s commencement at the University of Washington, Jana Gibson turned her life around in fine style.
Perhaps she will clutch her degree in sociology, with a minor in religion, a bit tighter than classmates who found the path through school less cluttered with obstacles.
Don’t dampen the party with talk about her days at an Everett middle school. Gibson hung with the wrong crowd and was labeled a bad kid, she said.
There were trips to the principal’s office and school suspensions. Authorities frowned on her wearing a pagan religious symbol.
She remembers being told she would never amount to anything.
When you tell a kid they are awful, they often act out in awful ways. She got into drugs about age 14, Gibson said.
Expelled from high school, tossed out of an alternative school, she didn’t stick with trying to learn at home. She was booted from her father’s place by the landlord, who said she was rowdy. She lived with her mother who also took in her boyfriend.
There were attempts at sobriety. Detox was a joke, she said, with a lousy outpatient drug counselor.
At her last stop on the way down, she found her niche. Cocoon House in Everett, a program for homeless teens, had the answers, and structure, she needed.
The floater landed on both feet.
“The teachers and principle were the most inspiring, helpful and caring people I had met in a long time,” Gibson said. “They were intensely concerned with the outcomes of their students. They would have done anything in their power to help me better myself.”
Unfortunately, Cocoon School no longer exists, said Lee Trevithick, Executive Director at Cocoon House. He said Gibson must have attended a program at the shelter that is now housed at an alternative school.
“I understand Cocoon School was highly successful,” Trevithick said. “Lessons were tailored to the needs of the youth in a richly staffed environment.”
Gibson thrived.
“I think it was the principal, Joy Peterson, and my other teachers that helped me pull myself up. They made me believe for the first time that I could move past the traditional ending for a drug-addicted kid.”
She knew she could graduate high school. Then it just seemed logical to move on to community college, Gibson said.
“I figured I needed to keep going in school so I didn’t have to waitress for the rest of my life,” Gibson, 24, said. “I worked full time at a pizza restaurant so I could pay rent, the rest of my bills and for my books.”
For three years, she attended Everett Community College.
“It all seems like a big blur now,” she said. “I must not have slept very much.”
And hallelujah, she got away from drugs, by focusing on what was important in her life. It was all about college.
“When I graduated with my AA degree I knew I could do more, but I was in disbelief when I got the acceptance letter from the UW.”
Working in a hospital cafeteria, living in a studio apartment, student loans helped her at the four-year college. She also received financial aid from Husky Promise, a program for low-income students.
Receiving her four-year degree this week won’t close the book. If she can find financing, and this woman is great at that, she hopes to earn a master’s degree in English and write grants for nonprofit organizations.
“Ideally working with either battered women or environmental causes,” she said.
Gibson will discover her next stop on the way up. I hope it includes sharing her survival story with teens who need direction.
Columnist Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451, oharran@heraldnet.com.
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