Cory Bates-Rogers

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT CORY BATES-ROGERS

I feel like every job I\'ve had has taught me something critical about working and living in our American economy. Entry-level sales jobs have taught me the most about customer service and ensuring a positive experience with each individual that seeks to do business with you. At this stage, it\'s difficult to control a client\'s overall experience because you have limited authority to make improvements. On the other hand, if you sum up all the interactions you have with clients, the collective impact of how individuals leave those interactions is substantial. After graduating from university and joining Teach for America, I was placed in a struggling inner-city school in Houston where I taught bilingual prekindergarten. This job was one of the most rewarding, but also one of the most stressful. Each of those small children, many of whom dealt with the insecurities of poverty, depended on me to prepare them, not only for next year, but for the rest of their lives. Those early years are critical for brain development and the pressure of giving each of them the biggest jump start in life possible was immense. I learned how important it is to realize when an individual is struggling and to look at every aspect of that person\'s life in order to try and help them solve their problem. People are complex, and we\'re all a work in progress. As an attorney representing mostly low-income clients, I learned how poverty traps people into cycles, making it very difficult to overcome small challenges in life. By the time a client showed up at our office, they were desperate for guidance and help. I learned here how to identify the emotional-brained thinking of clients and how to meet those emotions with heart before engaging the logical part of the brain necessary for making important life decisions. It wasn\'t always easy, but the results were always better. In my current position, I\'ve learned how the decisions we make can have a large impact on others. As a prosecutor I have to balance my duty to all citizens of the city with my duty to help reduce recidivism by individual defendants. It\'s a difficult balance, but it starts with a whole-person approach. Does this defendant need a sixth fine for driving without a license or does he or she need some learning assistance to be able to pass the exam for the first time? I think it\'s important to seek out positions that can provide these types of critical learning; it\'s important to stick with a job until you are no longer growing; and it\'s important to balance your work life with your home life. These are the goals.