Student Profile: Gemma Bentley
Current Major: Criminal Justice
Time at Southeast: 3 years
Future Plans: I want to work/help children who are in bad situations in life. I plan to graduate in May 2016 and continue my education with EKU.
What brought you to Southeast? I graduated from Letcher High in 1981, I then moved out of the state. After 32 years, I moved back home to these mountains, I soon realized why I left. A family member told me about Southeast Community College in Whitesburg, which I decided to check it out and so here I am.
What is your favorite part(s) of being a student at Southeast? The best part of being at Southeast is the support from the faculty and staff on any of the Southeast campuses. The student life is like a wonderful family where everyone helps one another.
Tell us about one of your most memorable experiences here at Southeast. This is a hard decision for me to make since we here on the Whitesburg campus make a lot of memorable moments. My most memorable experience is in Peggy Conklin s Women s History Class. My group of ladies all picked a female from history to research. We then invited Cowan Elementary 8th graders to come see our presentation of We the Women . We all dressed up as the person we were portraying and represented them with pride. We had Chek make a movie for each of us to keep.
Biggest accomplishments while at Southeast? Student Ambassador, Vice President of SGA, Instructional Assistant for Ariel Dingus, Tutor in ASC for Dr. Sandy Holbrook.
What would you say to someone thinking about coming to Southeast in the future? If anyone feels they are lost and have nowhere to turn, I would highly suggest they come to one of our Southeast campuses. I know there are a lot of people out there that feel the same as I did when I first started here at Southeast. I really was scared and afraid that I could not do it. But after a week or so, it was like riding a bike. The faculty, staff and students made me feel right at home. You can do it and what better place than here in your own hometown? I am more than grateful to Southeast and their support they have given me. What have you got to lose? It is what you have to gain that matters most.
