Mhariel Summers wasn’t looking to enter politics when she decided to go back to college in 2016 — she was looking for answers.
Summers, 30, was disheartened at the wave of highly publicized police shootings that began to dominate the national conversation in 2015. That piqued her interest as to how things like that could happen in our country – on camera – and yet people were not being charged with a crime.
A lifetime resident of St. Pete and graduate of Lakewood High, Summers was 25 when it dawned on her that going back to school to study political science could enlighten her on how our criminal justice system was continuously failing people.
After starting at St. Petersburg College, Summers transferred to the University of South Florida St. Petersburg and graduated last year with a degree in political science and a minor in entrepreneurship. However, her education continued far from the classroom.
“While I was working on my degree, I had the mindset that I was not going to wait to get meaningful experience until I graduate,” said Summers.
