![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nashccnews.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Topsail-Island-676x1024.jpeg\")
Every journey has a moment or two when we all wonder if the effort is worth the struggle.<\/p>\nEvery journey has a moment or two when we all wonder if the effort is worth the struggle.<\/p>\n
For Nash Community College alumnus Orah Pierce, overcoming the naysayers has led to many great achievements. Being told he would \u201cnever amount to anything\u201d had a profound effect on his psyche.<\/p>\n
\u201cI grew up thinking that I was worthless and useless because I heard this from so many people. It was bad enough from people I considered friends, but to hear it from family members is where it hit the hardest,\u201d said Pierce.<\/p>\n
\u201cI took all of this bad energy and started living the life they said I would until several things happened to make me think and feel better about myself,\u201d explained Pierce. He joined the Navy and started learning about confidence and character, which he says was the foundation to becoming the man he is today. \u201cI am very grateful to the Navy and loved every moment of my time enlisted,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
After an honorable discharge from the Navy, Orah began the next chapter of his life becoming a Rocky Mount police officer. The position allowed him to build on the character and integrity he developed while in the Navy. His passion for service and helping others led him to an opportunity as a School Resource Officer. \u201cI love seeing young people achieve their goals in life,\u201d said Pierce.<\/p>\n
Wanting to pursue a bachelor\u2019s degree in criminal justice, he enrolled at Strayer University. \u201cI did that for over a year and a half before transferring to Nash Community College where I instead earned my Associate Degree in Criminal Justice Technology,\u201d stated Pierce. \u201cThis was both a personal achievement and an opportunity to show students at the school that if I could do this, they could too.”<\/p>\n
His wife, Dr. Viola Pierce, has always had his back he said, and encourages him to keep pushing to reach higher and higher. \u201cJust being around her makes me want to be a better man and role model,\u201d said Pierce.<\/p>\n
\u201cI enjoyed my time as a student at Nash Community College and I will always be grateful to the instructors and staff who helped me out. It is a great college and I am sure I will be taking more classes there,\u201d explained Pierce. Now enrolled at UNC Pembroke, he is working on a Bachelor\u2019s Degree in Criminal Justice.<\/p>\n
Juggling work, school, and family life, he learned, was not easy. \u201cIf you stick it out and keep pushing, the reward is greater than the struggle,\u201d said Pierce. \u201cIf all that is worth doing was easy, everyone would be doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a self-described \u201ccountry boy,\u201d Pierce recalls a life lesson he learned when he and his friends wanted to cool off in a stream or a creek. \u201cIf water is sitting still, it\u2019ll start stinking up the place, but flowing water always smells and tastes fresh!\u201d With this philosophy in mind, he said he keeps pushing and keeps flowing.<\/p>\n
Orah Pierce and wife reside in Rocky Mount, NC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Every journey has a moment or two when we all wonder if the effort is worth the struggle. For Nash Community College alumnus Orah Pierce, overcoming the naysayers has led… Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nashccnews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13029"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nashccnews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nashccnews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nashccnews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nashccnews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13029"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nashccnews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13029\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13030,"href":"https:\/\/www.nashccnews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13029\/revisions\/13030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nashccnews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nashccnews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nashccnews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}