Rakiesha Lewis (left) and her daughter, Taylor, at the UTC Library. Photo by Angela Foster.
Not only was Rakiesha Lewis a full-time criminal justice student completing an undergraduate degree at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 2020, but she was also a full-time mom of three.
Four years later, she is a full-time employee coming back to UTC to pursue a Master of Science in Criminal Justice.
Lewis works as a probation officer in Chattanooga, specifically working with a clinical treatment team and correctional staff to help address the needs of offenders attending an intensive outpatient program, focusing on their recovery and reducing recidivism.
“One of my main duties is to enhance public safety,” said Lewis, a Chattanooga native. “If there’s something they don’t have, I work with the staff and the clinical team to provide them that resource.”
Working in criminal justice wasn’t just a career goal, she said; it was a calling.
“I grew up in a crime-infested area. I’ve seen people who struggle with drug abuse issues,” Lewis explained, “and I also had an incarcerated father.
“Overall, I believe in second chances and that sometimes people just need additional support.”
Lewis graduated from The Howard School in 2007 and received her associate degree from Chattanooga State Community College in 2013. She began her bachelor’s degree program at UTC that fall but had to take a break to focus on raising her children.
“Sometimes things happen,” she said. “I had to withdraw, go to work, take care of my kids. I went at my own pace.”
Lewis reenrolled at UTC in 2018, something she described as anything but easy.
“It was a challenge,” she recalled, “but with the challenges, I’m glad that my kids get to see it firsthand. I want them to see how important education is and that even when life gets hard, just push through and keep going. I want them to see me.
“People don’t like when I use the word fail, but I want them to see me when I make mistakes so they can be motivated to keep going.”
Not only did Lewis want to advance her career in the field she’s passionate about, but she also wanted to have more time to be a mom.
“I wanted to have a career that worked around my kids’ schedules,” she said. “The type of mom that I am, I like to be involved with my kids as far as academics, athletics, doctor’s appointments and things like that.”
While working and going to school to support her children, Lewis found support in UC Foundation Associate Professor of Criminal Justice Rick Dierenfeldt—a former Missouri law enforcement officer.
Lewis recalled one of her first interactions with Dierenfeldt, which happened after she left his class and was waiting in Fletcher Hall for her next class.
“I had a lot of homework to do. I was thinking about bills, but I was like, ‘I can’t go to school full time and work full time and take care of my kids,’” she said. “Life just wasn’t giving me a break.”
She looked up to see Dierenfeldt walk into the building and made eye contact with him.
“Maybe he saw the expression on my face,” she remembered. “I don’t know what it was, but he sat next to me and he just told me that I was doing a good job. I just started crying and he gave me a hug—because in that moment, that’s what I needed.”
Lewis said it was Dierenfeldt’s kindness that pushed her to stay at UTC.
“I was packing my stuff up to get ready to leave and walk out the building to go find a job,” she continued. “But with him doing that, it gave me the motivation to keep going.”
Dierenfeldt remembered the day he saw Lewis in the hallway. At the time, he didn’t realize the impact it had on her.
“I wrote a recommendation letter for her when she graduated from UTC, and she got the job,” Dierenfeldt said. “Then she came back last semester and was in full uniform. She said, ‘You probably don’t remember me,’ but of course I did.”
Dierenfeldt—who also became a dad before starting his undergraduate degree—said he can understand what it’s like to have priorities outside of school.
“We have different struggles than traditional students,” he said. “We know why we’re there and we know why we have to finish. Those choices get a little bit easier when you realize that it’s no longer a choice.”
Lewis was hired as a probation officer one month after receiving her bachelor’s degree in 2020. She will begin the master’s program this fall.
“Deciding to get my master’s is a part of my self-care and personal growth,” she said. “Working with offenders made me realize the importance of investing in my own development and becoming the best version of myself for those that I support.
“After experiencing work-related depression and anxiety, I felt inspired to deepen my understanding of the field in criminal justice, community corrections and mental health because many people don’t speak of that side.”
Lewis said she initially enrolled in Middle Tennessee State University’s criminal justice graduate program but decided to transfer to UTC.
“I want to write a thesis and I have a relationship with Dr. D (Dierenfeldt),” she said, “so it’s best for me to transfer back to UTC where I have local resources such as the writing center and the library.”
Lewis is excited about walking the stage come graduation day—something she didn’t get to do in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For now, she is looking forward to first coming back to campus.
“I’m just focused on getting all the experience that I can,” she said.
Dierenfeldt shared his excitement about Lewis’ return to UTC.
“She’s had an opportunity to get into the field, spend some time there and apply what she’s learned,” Dierenfeldt said. “Now she’s also got the background experience to identify problems, problems that she wants to research, problems that she wants to be able to fix.”
Despite the struggles of her undergraduate experience, Dierenfeldt said she was always prepared, actively engaged, and always sat in the front row of his class.
“I’ve got an incredible amount of respect for Rakiesha,” he said. “She’s obviously an outstanding student, but—I think more importantly—she’s an incredible person.”
Dr. Rick Dierenfeldt
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Master of Science in Criminal Justice.
