It’s well past noon, but Shannandor McClain is cocooned in a blanket on my couch.
Like most college students, she catches up on sleep whenever and wherever she can. And with Shannandor taking classes, working three days a week and being involved in several campus organizations, I can’t say I blame her.
“An average day for me is very, very busy,” she says through a yawn. “I usually have to be at an 8 o’clock class or in Anderson County for my internship at 8 a.m., so it’s always really early mornings and really long days.”
Shannandor is a senior studying social work and is spending the school year working at the Anderson County Courthouse. She is also Take Back the Night coordinator for Women’s Coordinating Council, a member of Leadership Guide and recently became a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
“And usually I have classes back to back to back, and if I don’t have classes back to back to back,” she chuckles now, “I have a meeting and then classes back to back to back.”
When asked about what she does for fun, she laughs at the idea. “In my spare time I normally crash, honestly. But I do have a Little with Big Brothers, Big Sisters, and we do a lot of fun stuff. I usually find myself running to her when I need a break. We’ll go the movies or go ice skating or something. It’s always just something really random and really fun.”
However, what little bit of free time Shannandor did have is now being crushed under the weight of another monster task: law school applications.
“I really want to work with the law field regardless of what happens with law school,” she says. “Since I’ve been in college I’ve worked with the criminal justice system, particularly probation and parole. I really find it intriguing to sit down with offenders and listen to their stories and to find ways to incorporate them back into society where it’s not only good for them, but for the greater whole of society.”
Shannandor says she became interested in the field because of, “the idea of a second chance.”
“I think it’s really important to understand that everyone does make a mistake, and even more important to understand how to help someone move past that mistake,” she says. “It’s about listening to people, understanding what they’re going through, and understanding if there’s actually a way to help them and also help yourself in the same process. A lot of the time I feel like it’s a growing opportunity because it’s not only a chance to better someone else but a chance to better yourself.”
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Tennessee chapter.