Pellissippi State student awarded paralegal scholarship
 Barbara Miller and her 14-year-old son are in a friendly competition to see who can do the best in school.
Miller is in the Paralegal Studies program at Pellissippi State. Her son, Jackson, is a freshman at the new Hardin Valley Academy just down the road.
They’re both “A” students—but with the $1,000 scholarship she has just received, Mom is raising the bar.
The Pellissippi State Foundation awarded the scholarship to Miller with funds donated by the Knoxville Association of Legal Administrators. Miller was chosen to receive the award based on her academic achievements and the likelihood of her success as a paralegal.
Miller says she decided to go back to school to get an associate’s degree to set a good example for her son.
“It’s hard to tell your kids they need to go to school when you yourself did not finish,” she said. “Now we compete with our grades. He takes more classes than I do, but I tell him mine are harder. I’m not sure—he takes a lot of honor classes.”
Like many students who return to school as adults, Miller entered Pellissippi State with an already-busy schedule.
“I wasn’t sure how I’d balance work, family, husband, life,” she said.
Miller started out slowly, with one class in the evenings, but found that she could handle two or three a semester, even with a full-time job working as an assistant for Judge Timothy Irwin in Knox County Juvenile Court. She’s even serving her second term as president of the Pellissippi Paralegal Association.
“She’s very organized and has a lot of school spirit,” said Arlene Cleveland, program coordinator of Paralegal Studies. “She’s totally amazing—to work full time, to have a family, to come to school and to maintain nearly a 4.0.”
After graduation Miller plans to work as a paralegal in juvenile court. She says she may even consider law school someday.
“When my son is in college I might think about it,” she said. “It’s definitely an option.”
For more information about the Paralegal Studies program, visit www.pstcc.edu/departments/lat.
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