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.
“When I was little, in the neighborhood where I’m from, there’s a thing called ‘being on the porch,’” Dixon said. “When you’re ‘on the porch,’ 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
He quickly went from the porch, to being able to go across the street to his family members’ and friends’ houses. 在探索不同街区的过程中，他被介绍给了更多的人，这使他能够与离他所在街区更远的人建立联系。
“It became an adventure,” he said. “Even though it was a small area, it became an adventure.”
迪克森19岁刚从大学毕业，他知道世界比他的邻居要大得多。 然后他决定继续他在爱荷华州的冒险。
“My neighborhood was just a lot of people in bad situations, that’s making their environment bad,” Dixon said. “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. 所以，我知道我必须做点什么才能离开那里。”
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. 所以，我知道我必须做点什么才能离开那里。
爱荷华州的冒险
搬到爱荷华州后，迪克森就读于当地的一所社区大学，并在28岁时毕业。 他所在社区的消极态度首先促使他去接受高等教育。 现在，他31岁了，儿子和女儿是他最大的动力。
“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 我在告诉他们这是你必须准备好的。”
我想让他们看到爸爸真的能做到。 他们是我的动力，因为他们开始上学了。 我在告诉他们这是你必须准备好的。
来到山上
Still thirsty for more knowledge, Dixon spoke with a friend, Maurisa Clark ’19, who was in Mount Mercy’s criminal justice program. 她告诉他柯克伍德学院的学分很容易转到芒特仁慈学院。
Interested, Dixon spoke with Mount Mercy’s psychology and criminal justice faculty members, and learned his credits would transfer easily. As a result, 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. 作为一个小孩子，迪克森想要更多地了解法律。
“My daddy was incarcerated, and when the police came and got him, I didn’t understand. 我想知道这些人是谁，他们要把我爸爸带到哪里去？ 所以这在我很小的时候就引起了我的兴趣，试图弄清楚并理解什么是法律。 I’ve been researching law since I was a little kid and that started the criminal justice path.”
当迪克森发现心理学是一门关于心灵的研究时，他对它产生了兴趣。
Dixon said he thought, “People keep saying I’m smart, 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.
“I have to thank, the one, the only, I call him the guru of writing, Ben (Thiel) in the ACE center.”
“I have to thank, the one, the only, I call him the guru of writing, Ben (Thiel) in the ACE center,”Dixon said. “In grammar, you’re not supposed to write in run-on sentences. However, the law is written in run-on sentences.”
迪克森解释说，改变他的写作方式会改变他对法律的解释。 蒂尔理解并帮助他进一步发展写作。 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
在2019年5月举行的荣誉大会上，迪克森获得了心理学学生奖。 荣誉大会是皇冠体育学生杰出学术工作的庆祝活动。 One student from each department is selected based on their work for that department’s award.
“Prosper through adversity. 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. 迪克森一如既往地忙碌着，他在学校之外还有两个项目。 He’s looking for a publisher for his first book, The Mercy Papers, and recently developed a logo reminding people to look objectively.
“Prosper through adversity. Every day is not going to be a good day, but you can make it a good day,” Dixon said.