Derek “Scott” McGlaughlin, born and raised on a farm in Southeast Ohio, had a life beset by a series of hardships. Upon graduating from high school in 1991, McGlaughlin learned that he would soon become a parent. Knowing this, he then enlisted in the military, as it was considered his most reliable career path at the time. He was released in 1993, and found himself with a wife and child to support at home.
After his experience in the military, McGlaughlin pursued a career path in criminal justice and enrolled in the Police Academy at Hocking College to become a police officer. He then spent time traveling around the country working jobs such as firefighting and manufacturing. He later began suffering from PTSD and other health-related issues that prevented him from performing strenuous physical labor.
According to McGlaughlin, a pivotal turning point in his life involved him getting arrested on a DUI charge. This conviction required him to take part in a Driver Intervention program, which taught him how he could help himself by being of service to others. McGlaughlin has continued to remain an active participant in the Driver Intervention program as both a speaker and mentor to other men and women who have a history with drugs and alcohol.
Scott later moved back to Southeast Ohio to take care of his elderly grandmother; but once again, he found himself struggling to find a reliable career that was right for him and his family. One day while traveling down Ohio SR 287, McGlaughlin noticed that he was driving alongside a Hocking College Commercial Drivers License (CDL) training truck. Having grown up on a farm, McGlaughlin had always considered himself to be “someone who could drive anything”, so he chose to look into the CDL program that Hocking College offers.
The Hocking College Aspire program provides high-quality basic educational services to assist adult learners in acquiring skills to be successful in postsecondary education, training and employment, earn a living wage and be contributing members of society. Although McGlaughlin had never considered himself to be a great student, he says that the Aspire program helped him “refresh his basic math and composition skills, boost [his] self-esteem and help prepare [him] to become more competitive in the job market.”
After only three weeks of classes, McGlaughlin got a head start in looking for job opportunities in truck driving. To his amazement, in the short time between posting his resume online and checking for updates on prospects, he had received nine job offers - conditional on his successful completion of the program and licensing exam. In regards to his potential as a truck driver, instructor Kern says that McGlaughlin possesses the three essential qualities needed to be successful in the trucking industry: perseverance, punctuality and the ability to be a team player. He went on to describe his former student as “someone who came to this program for not just its end results, but also to be good at the job his training prepared him for”.
McGlaughlin stated that he is extremely grateful for the second chance at life that the Aspire program gave him. In particular, he wanted to thank Ginger Gagne who he said was “always ready to go above and beyond to make sure I had the support, encouragement and financing I needed to succeed in the program”. Overall, he credits the Aspire program with “changing the entire trajectory of [his] life”.
To discover how you can benefit from Hocking College’s new Aspire program, visit www.hocking.edu/aspire or contact Ginger Gagne at gagneg@hocking.edu.