Early in her college career, criminology and criminal justice major Keri Turner says some serious mental health challenges left her wondering whether she’d ever achieve her dream of becoming a lawyer. But with some help from a UM-Dearborn professor, Keri is right on track to do just that. In fact, the soon-to-be graduate is hoping to combine her love of the law and passion for mental health advocacy by serving others as a lawyer in a mental health court.

Keri, in her own words

On almost losing a dream. “Ever since I was in middle or high school, I’ve been interested in the law, and when I got to college, I decided to major in criminal justice. But after my freshman year, I started to struggle with my mental health. It really deteriorated after a while, and I started to feel like my dream of becoming a lawyer was slipping away. I just didn’t feel like I could achieve it with my mental health in the place that it was, so I decided maybe I needed to take a job that had less interaction with the public. But after a while, I met a professor, one of my psychology professors, and I learned there was treatment for what I had. I went to therapy, and I slowly recovered what I lost. In 2017, I interned for Judge Annette Berry in the Third Circuit Court in Detroit, and she offered me an internship. She was telling me about Detroit’s Mental Health Court; their sole purpose is to help mentally ill offenders reintegrate back into society. It completely blew my mind that I could combine my two biggest passions.”

On the power of peer counseling. “Last year, I got involved with the Mental Health and Wellness Peer Mentors. It’s a group of students on campus who want to help other students with mental health issues. Anyone can come talk to us, and it makes it easy to relate. It’s so helpful, especially as someone who didn’t have anyone to turn to a few years ago, to be that person that someone can turn to.”

On law school and beyond. “Recently, I was accepted into law school at Wayne State University. Hopefully, in a few years, I’ll be graduating and working in public interest law — ideally in mental health courts. Many courts don’t have that option and many people have to stay in jail and then just reoffend. So, it would be a dream to be able to help the situations of mentally ill offenders. I realize my privilege in being able to receive treatment and recover, so maybe I can help other people in their circumstances, where they are having issues not receiving treatment or realizing that they need help.”