Lutricia Banks believes helping people is a calling more than a career choice.

“Even at a young age, when I encountered someone in need, my first thought was, ‘How can I help them?’” she said. “I would almost immediately start to ponder solutions, even sometimes before they asked for my help. It did not matter who the person was—a friend, a relative or even a stranger.”

Banks has always sought careers that allowed her to help others. Growing up in a single-parent household, she learned resilience, patience and inner strength, which she carried into each new position. After high school, she trained and worked as a dental assistant, then became a licensed professional nurse and a CPR instructor, running a CPR business. She even became an ordained licensed minister.

If your heart is to help others, COD offers academic support, emotional support and so many other resources, along with amazing instructors who will go the extra mile to help you succeed.

Lutricia Banks

During the pandemic, she decided to leave health care and enrolled at College of DuPage in the Human Services program, which was not easy.

“At the age of 56, it was my first college experience besides technical school in 1991 and taking a class at another community college in 1992,” she said. “But the support I got from several instructors was outstanding. Mary Beth Mulcahy assisted me after class over Zoom with navigating Blackboard and helped me to create my first PowerPoint assignment. Jason Florin was especially kind, patient and helpful in my fieldwork class as I completed two internships. Professor Janet Hubbard and Randall Vodnik, a volunteer math assistant, were a godsend in supporting and assisting me to get through my most challenging class yet, which was Business Math. Their acts of kindness and their professionalism played a major role in my success.”

With this help and encouragement, Banks excelled in the classroom and completed the Recovery Support Specialist certificate to become a Certified Recovery Support Specialist (CRSS). Then she pursued her degree, focusing on domestic violence, and became a volunteer at Metropolitan Family Services.

Having graduated and named an outstanding graduate finalist, Banks plans to work with survivors of domestic violence, with a focus on prevention.

“Because of my lived experience, I believe I can provide a sense of hope, showing them that you can survive and thrive after abuse,” she said. “Eventually, I would like to start a nonprofit organization that will provide resources and help domestic violence victims recover from their abuse.

“It feels surreal knowing that I have completed my degree. It has been one of the hardest challenges I have faced in my life. I am also amazed and proud of accomplishing such a task at this point in life. Although I never set out to be an outstanding graduate finalist, I look at it as the cherry on top, and it is a great feeling.”

Her advice to other students, especially those considering the Human Services program, is to go for it.  

“If your heart is to help others, COD offers academic support, emotional support and so many other resources, along with amazing instructors such as Jason Florin and Mary Beth Mulcahy, who will go the extra mile to help you succeed,” she said. “I also could not have been successful without leaning on my Christian faith; the support, prayers and encouragement of, Carmen, Dave, my family and friends; my Jordan Temple Church family, and last, but certainly not least my dog Maxx.”

Learn more about the Human Services program at College of DuPage