Single dad finds Hinds CC a perfect place to start a new career

Herbert Strickland spent more than 23 years in law enforcement, much of it working with K-9 units.

Strickland, 49, of Utica, had attended Mississippi State University for just one year after high school before starting a career that included working with the Hinds and Rankin sheriff’s departments and the Madison Police Department.

With an unfinished academic resumé and a daughter entering high school, responsibilities on Strickland’s horizon had him wanting a fresh start.

“Electrical Technology is something I’d been interested in just a little bit before coming to Hinds,” Strickland said.

Through a friendship begun at church with Hinds Vicksburg-Warren Campus Vice President Marvin Moak, a former instructor in the college’s electrical program, Strickland has earned his Associate of Applied Science from Hinds.

“If it weren’t for Marvin’s advice, there’s no telling what I would have taken and how I would have done,” Strickland said

He graduated among more than 1,300 others in ceremonies held Dec. 18 at the Muse Center on the Rankin Campus.

Strickland plans to pursue a Bachelor of Applied Science in the field through a new partnership with Mississippi State University that allows students enrolled in technical education programs to seamlessly transfer their credits. Strickland said he also plans to one day return to Hinds to teach.

De’Harvey and Ke’Harvey Gary (Hinds Community College/April Garon)

De’Harvey and Ke’Harvey Gary, both of Vicksburg, are just starting out in their careers, and both earned career certificates from Hinds Dec. 18. They are fraternal twins, though they’re often mistaken for one another.

“We just hope to get started going into the Welding Technology program soon,” Ke’Harvey said.

Hinds awarded a total of 1,316 credentials to 958 graduates during three ceremonies, with some graduates receiving more than one credential.

Of the fall graduates, 158 achieved cum laude, 3.2 to 3.59 grade point average; 95 achieved magna cum laude, 3.6 to 3.99 GPA and 124 achieved summa cum laude, 4.0 grade point average.

The speaker for all three graduations was Phil Cockrell, Raymond Campus Engineering and Drafting Design Technology instructor.

In his remarks, Cockrell told graduates to consider why they are on the path they have chosen. Quoting noted pastor and author Charles Swindoll, Cockrell noted that 10 percent of life is what happens, and the other 90 percent is how you react to it.

“Challenges present an awesome opportunity to choose who you want to be by how you react to those challenges,” Cockrell said.

Grand marshal and mace bearer for all three ceremonies was Dr. Libby Mahaffey, district dean of health services and of Nursing and Allied Health programs, who retired in 2019 after 37 years.