Page 9 - Access Magazine 2023

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DECORATED GENTLE MARINE LAWYER
JORDAN CODY
ACCESS - The Division of Continuing and Global Education 9
BY DOUGLAS HOAGLAND
Jordan Cody has gone from hopeless wandering to graduating
from Fresno State to now finishing law school – all in seven years. It’s a remarkable achievement for the former Marine – and alum of Fresno State’s Veterans Education Program.
Cody is humble about his turnaround. “I have a sense of succeeding, but I also remember where I came from and what those hard days felt like.” And, he’s quick to acknowledge the people in the Veterans Education Program and others at the university who encouraged, inspired and taught him. “I want them to know they didn’t waste their time with me. A lot of people took a risk with me, and I can’t imagine where I’d be without them.”
Raised in North Carolina, Cody joined the military after high school and was deployed three times to Afghanistan in a combat unit. After suffering a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic distress syndrome, he was medically retired after six years of service. A perilous time followed. “Those of us in the military thrive off the structure, and when you leave and step into the real world, there is the opportunity to succeed and the opportunity to perish. Without something to strive for, you’re at tremendous risk.”
Cody stumbled through several difficult years before he learned about the Veterans Education Program, and he had to be convinced it wasn’t too good to be true.
It became his springboard to the future. “The Veterans Education Program guided me on how to be a student and how to do things the right way so I had the opportu- nity to succeed.” After completing the program, he transitioned to Fresno State as a communication major and became active with the Barking Bulldogs Debate Team (“engaging, fun and demanding”) as well as the Student Veteran Organization and student government. In only two years, he earned a bachelor of art’s degree and then started at McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, where he graduated in three years. Cody’s aim is to specialize in family law to help people with a military connection. “I know there are special situations involving divorce and child custody that need to be handled delicately,” he says. “My goal is to stay connected with my military community and help as best I can.”
That commitment is part of how he now sees life:
“ I know I can’t stop moving forward. I have to
ontinue to grow and progress, and the Veterans Education Program helped me build that foundation.”
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