Criminal justice major Kiana Veasley was born in Mesquite, but she moved in with her father, Kenneth Veasley, during her high school years when she attended and graduated from Crowley High School in Crowley, near Burleson.

In high school, Veasley had many friends because she was involved in many school activities, including track and field, theater, National Honor Society, the Law Enforcement Club, and National Technical Club.

Participating at school did not stop Veasley from making good grades; in fact, she made As and Bs all throughout high school.

“My high school life was about me taking per AP classes; I couldn’t take regular classes because my parents wouldn’t let me, and I couldn’t get anything lower than a B because a C was considered to be failing a class,” said Veasley, 22. “It was very stressful managing all the clubs and maintaining As and Bs.”

When Veasley graduated high school, she knew that she wanted to attend a private university because of the smaller classes they offer students.

“When I went on college visits, I only went to private colleges because they all said smaller classes and I was looking for smaller classes,” she said.

Veasley heard about Texas Wesleyan University from her high school theater teacher Laura Skipper, a Wesleyan graduate. She applied to the school, and she received an acceptance letter along with the Dean`s Scholarship.

“The application process was easy. When my teacher told me about Wesleyan I applied; they only asked for my transcript,” she said. “Later I got an acceptance letter and the Dean`s Scholarship.”

When Veasley came to Wesleyan, she had hopes of taking the pre-law major, but when she arrived, she later realized that they no longer had the program and by default, her advisor recommended she try the criminal justice program.

“I came to Wesleyan, and the pre-law major was gone, so I was put into criminal justice,” she said. “When I took an introduction to criminal justice, I was like, yes, this was made for me.”

During her time at Wesleyan Veasley worked in the Eunice & James L. West Library with her twin sister Briana Veasley and held a position in the Black Students Association. She said Dr. Cary Adkinson, associate professor of Criminal Justice, and former Wesleyan professor Dr. Eddy Lynton had a significant influence on her.

After graduation, Veasley plans to take a year off from school. She hopes to be promoted at her job while she is taking time off from school. She has plans to attend Texas A&M University-Commerce to study law.

“Im taking a year off school; I don't want to flunk law school, because Im just very tested out right now,” she said.

She hopes that other college students will not make the mistake of working two jobs and taking on 18 hours of classes as she did.

“Do not work two jobs and take on 18 hours; it’s very stressful. Give yourself time to work on assignments and have a social life,” she said.