Sharon Kennedy grew up expecting an ordinary life. Look where she ended up!

This is a completely true story.

Sharon Kennedy grew up intending to become a police officer. When she was ten, a teacher told her that she was capable of being much more; maybe a lawyer or a judge. She dismissed the idea. Nobody in her family had ever gone to college. She was born into a blue collar family, and expected to live a blue collar life. Her mom often told her things like, "Mind your place" and "Who died and made you Princess Grace?" Sometimes parents give negative messaging to their children without thinking about it. But what her teacher said stayed in the back of her mind.

Sharon grew up and, after earning a bachelor's degree in social work, became a police officer, in Hamilton Ohio, serving from 1985-89. One day, she was in court, testifying about a case. The defense attorney was cross-examining her, and was asking a lot of stupid questions. The realization came to Sharon like a bolt of lightning: "If someone as stupid as this guy can get through law school, I can do it too!"

So she contacted the University of Cincinnati and asked about law school. They enrolled her in a program. She took law courses while working as a law clerk in the Butler County Common Pleas Court, serving as the Director of the Victim/Witness Division. After graduating, she worked as an attorney in private practice, from 1991-98. Then she became a judge, serving from 1999-2012.

It was very difficult working as an attorney and a judge during this period due to what she describes as a "runaway court." In those years, the Ohio Supreme Court was filled with activist judges. It was very frustrating trying to practice law, when you could not know what the law was going to be from one week to the next.

So she did something about it. She ran for election, and has served as a Justice on the Ohio Supreme Court since 2012. This story still hasn't ended yet. The Chief Justice seat become open in 2022. So she ran for that office, and won!

This young girl, who grew up expecting to have drab, ordinary life, not even considering going to college, is now serving as the CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE OHIO SUPREME COURT!

At every stage of life, go ahead and do your best at whatever there is for you to do. Learn all you can from whatever you do. Keep improving your skills. Always keep preparing yourself for whatever opportunity might come before you in the future. You really could go A LOT farther in life than you think right now!

Submitted March 02, 2024 at 03:45AM by thasupporter https://ift.tt/3IW1J2k