the Magazine, Volume 2 Issue 2 - The College of Coastal Georgia

Alumni Profile:Jody Carter ’12Marine and former local business owner turns his focus to teachingJody Carter heard a calling: To teach or to preach.“I heard it just as plain as the conversation you and I are having,”the summa cum laude graduate with the perfect 4.0 average said.“I believe kids are important, so I started working on my BS ineducation.” But for the non-traditional student and Marine, thepath was not straight to the College of Coastal Georgia.“I was just an average student at Wayne County HighSchool, taking college prep courses and vocational coursesin drafting,” Jody admitted. “Even in high school, I likedpractical application – drafting – better than theory. We canall sit around and talk theory, but it’s putting it into action,testing the observations, that appeals to me. That’s why Ilike science and math – and teaching.”When Jody graduated from high school in 1996, he thoughthis only options were military. “I had a career mindset and Icould picture myself with a military career in the infantry.”He had an uncle who served in the Marines and often spokeof the brotherhood he had shared in the corps, as well as thechallenges. So Jody enlisted, but two years into his service, adislocated shoulder shattered his plans.Jody moved on to computer information systems,enrolling at Altamaha Tech. With the benefit of his Marinetraining and discipline to guide him, he earned his CISdiploma with honors and was one of 12 in the state that yearto win the Georgia Occupation Award for Leadership, basedon his character and grades. But no job was forthcoming.2 College of Coastal Georgia – the Magazine