Kourtnie Nelson

I give all praises first to God. Just as being a mother, my father, I have two sons who are autistic. It's just to keep going, like, this is a lot being a cancer fighter, having two autistic sons, working as a full-time mom. I always use praise and prayer to get me through today, every day - being a mom, being a professional, and also being a cancer fighter. So, I just have to pray, and keep going, and keep a positive mindset through it all.

The best advice I've always gotten is being recognized for going the extra mile, just in every aspect of the field. A lot of people say that I always have helped them in some way, so I always get recognized for just the willingness to help others and to do the best that I can in whatever aspect of the field I was in - going above and beyond to get the work done while also assisting others.

The best advice I would give them is to do the right thing. I always say to be professional and always follow the scope of the job. And always try to stay ahead, not to get behind on your workloads. It's always good to stay ahead and make sure you stay caught up on things.

Challenges now are when parolees get released and they want their voting rights restored, or they want pardons, the challenge is basically telling them that if they owe any money or court fees, that's something that they look at. So I have to encourage them to start making those payments once they get out, in order to get those pardons and voting rights, and to stay out of trouble. They can't get into anything else, because there's things that they look at, and they'll get denied, and they can't reapply for like 2 years.

I take pride in my work, professionally. I always look at it as it's a reflection of me. And if it's a reflection of me, I just want everything to be right, done correctly, and the best of my ability. I always strive to go high, the best that I can, on and off the job, just being a good person, a good citizen, a good example for others.