Brooklyn Siple is quite possibly living the dream.
The Houston, Texas native will graduate from Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) in December with a double major in psychology and criminology after just three-and-a-half years.
And the icing on the cake: she started her new career as the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) assistant advocate coordinator and administrative assistant in Ada, OK, on Dec. 1 – before her diploma is even in hand.
“I don’t think I could have been as successful anywhere else,” Siple said. “I like the small class sizes and how personable the professors are. Anytime I needed help, I was able to get it. It’s due to the tight-knit, welcoming community we’ve created here.”
Siple knew two things when she entered SMWC – she wanted to study psychology and work with children.
What she wasn’t sure of was how it would fit together until her freshman year, when she took a class with Louis Reeves, MS, a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice.
“Louis put me in contact with Glenna Cheeseman, director of Vigo County CASA, where I worked in a part-time position for a year,” she said. “There are three of us who carried a caseload of about 24. I got to know these kids, visit them monthly and advocate for them in court to make sure they have the resources they need.”
Education is about more than books and buildings, which is why Reeves works to help students, like Siple, create an experience with special moments of clarity.
“In those unique moments, the student realizes their true passion and their true path,” he said. “The individuals at Vigo County CASA helped provide that place where classroom and reality unite to create that experience. We are fortunate to have many community partners that understand this and offer those experiences to our students daily.”
Siple, who started at SMWC as a resident assistant and softball player, had to make some sacrifices. She put softball on the back burner and switched to being an online student in the spring semester of her junior year so she could devote more time to her CASA internship.
“This allowed me to focus on this job during the day and finish the rest of my degree online,” she said. “It was so worth it because I love what I do. Once I started my internship, I knew this was the work I wanted to be doing, helping children. That help is something they will carry with them their whole lives. That’s the kind of impact I want to have.”
In only a year, Siple saw the positive impact of her care and compassion on children and youth who have experienced abuse or neglect in Vigo County.
“There’s a baby in one of my cases who I’d been visiting since he was born. At my first visit, he was struggling and having difficulty eating,” Siple said. “At my last visit with him, he was smiling and just being a happy, healthy baby. Those are the moments you hold onto when times get tough. They’re the reminder of why I work in this field.”
Cheesman said Siple possesses the characteristic most necessary for this line of work – heart.
“From day one, Brooklyn was right in the middle of everything – working with the kids to being Tinkerbell and the most popular character at our Pirates’ Palooza event this past spring,” Cheesman said. “Her joy, love and compassion are felt by all the children she serves and will continue to serve as she moves on from us. She will always be a part of the Vigo County CASA program family, as she built bonds with her children, the staff and volunteers.”
Siple’s new position on the six-member staff in Ada, Okla., will be more volunteer-focused, allowing her to train volunteers and assist with their casework. She hopes to learn more of Oklahoma’s laws surrounding children and use her expertise to help her co-workers fully embrace Optima – a system used to house case information.
“Laws in child work changes, not just state to state but county to county, so I know I’ll be spending a lot of time getting to know more about Oklahoma’s laws regarding children,” Siple said. “I want to build the resource network like I have here, hopefully within a year. Eventually, I hope to become a certified trainer for volunteers and other staff.”