For the Reporter
Kent’s Brandon Hoggans is launching efforts to improve the prison system from a different perspective.
Hoggans, a psychology major who recently graduated from Marylhurst University, a private liberal arts university just south of Portland, is applying to graduate programs in social work and to a five-year doctoral programs in psychology.
His purpose, he says, is to expand on the philosophies and goals of the agency his father founded before he passed away: that is, to establish a foundation specializing in counseling, creating and implementing re-entry programs for the growing population of men and women exiting prison and attempting to become productive members of society.
Hoggans’ passion and purpose stem from his personal experience.
At 18, he was sentenced on a robbery charge, serving seven years in prison. He found that as a young man with a felony not only did he lack experience and skills to successfully turn his life around, society had several obstacles that made re-entry even more challenging.
It was then that he became determined to create some of the lacking services for this population. He knew the importance of higher education – so he completed his associate’s degree at Portland Community College, and now a bachelor of arts in psychology from Marylhurst.
“I wake up each day to obstacles I have to overcome because of decisions I’ve made in my past,” Hoggans said. “If my story, my experience, my service and my education can help create productive members of society, then I have achieved my goal.”
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