LoginJoin Bold.org
user profile avatar

Carey Benson-Jameson

1x

Finalist

General information

Hobbies & Interests

  • Social Work
  • Social Justice
  • Advocacy And Activism
  • Baking
  • Cognitive Science
  • Criminal Justice
  • Theology and Religious Studies
  • Kinesiology
  • Violin
  • Motorcycles

Reading

  • Religion
  • Historical
  • Humanities
  • Law
  • Psychology
  • Sociology
  • Spirituality
  • True Story

I read books multiple times a week.

Bio

I am a returning adult student at College of Western Idaho pursuing an Associate’s degree in Social Work, with plans to continue my education in trauma-informed advocacy, addiction recovery, and restorative approaches to healing. My education was interrupted for many years by addiction, trauma, incarceration, and life instability, but I have returned to school with focus, purpose, and a clear direction. This semester, I earned a 4.0 GPA and was recognized as a Presidential Scholar. My goal is to use both my education and lived experience to help challenge the stigma surrounding addiction and support people whose lives have been shaped by trauma, shame, and systems that often punish behavior without addressing the wound underneath it. I believe people need accountability, compassion, structure, and a real path forward — not pity, excuses, or empty judgment. I am within two semesters of completing my degree, and I am building a future rooted in service, advocacy, and the belief that survival can become purpose.

Education

College of Western Idaho

Associate's degree program

2026 – 2027

Majors:
  • Social Work

Miscellaneous

Desired degree level:
Bachelor's degree program
Desired degree modality:
Full-Time
Medical school interest:
No

Career

  • Manager

    Retail · For Heaven's Sake Christian Book & Gift

    Jan 1997 – Jan 2002

Miscellaneous

Dream career field:
Social Work
Work experience:
10+ years
Has nursing license:
No
Lost Dreams Awaken Scholarship
Recovery, to me, is not just putting the drugs down. It is finally digging for the root instead of ripping the leaves off and wondering how the weed keeps growing back. I got clean in February 2025, but getting clean was the doorway, not the whole house. For years, my past and my future lived in separate rooms. I kept the door shut between them because I thought if they ever met, one would destroy the other. My past carried trauma, addiction, shame, incarceration and wreckage. My future carried intelligence, purpose and a fire I did not know where to put. Recovery is teaching me those rooms were never meant to stay divided. The house is mine, all of it, and healing means learning how to walk through it without running from myself. Recovery is where those pieces started becoming something new. I am not rebuilding the life I lost. I am building something I never imagined I could become. Recovery means asking why the pain was there, why I kept returning to destruction, and why no one ever knew that trauma was the weed. I am not the only one. So many people are punished for the symptoms of the wounds the never understood. If we want people to heal, we have to address the root of the pain, not just the behavior growing from it. My recovery is no longer only about saving myself. It is about helping others find the root and begin their own reconstruction.
Carey Benson-Jameson Student Profile | Bold.org