Grand Canyon University online student Paige Ott believed her role in life was to ensure that adopted children landed in safe, loving homes.
She was an adopted child, and from an early age, her parents were upfront about it and explained the process to her.
“They made it very grand to be adopted,” she said from her home on a steaming, humid afternoon in Nebraska. “They made me understand that it was not about the store dropping you off on the fence post.”
From a term paper assignment in her early teen years, it was arranged for Ott to meet the caseworker who had placed her with her parents.
“When I met him, I was like, ‘Oh! I want to do what you do,’” said Ott, who is working on her bachelor's degree in social work. “So, through growing up, I wanted to do that. I was going to do case management for adoption homes. I’m going to place children in good homes.”
In high school, she ran cross country and was pretty good at it – good enough for a full-ride scholarship to Peru State College in Nebraska.
“A month before I was to leave for school, they canceled the cross-country program,” Ott said. “I was so upset, I was like, ‘I’ll just go to hair school.’ So I went and learned how to do hair.”
She was always into the social aspect of helping people and being a hairstylist. For the first couple of years, she enjoyed her hairstyling career, particularly the role of listening, chatting and helping her clients.
“Then, I didn’t like it anymore,” said Ott. “I got tired of tracking other people’s hair into my home. So then I went into the Navy. I was 21.”
She said joining the Navy – she served on the submarine tender USS McKee – was the best decision she could have made, though it came with its challenges.
“I navigated a ship. That means I was easily deployable,” Ott said. “At the time, I had a 1-year-old daughter.”
The single mother was faced with an immutable choice: find guardians for her child to continue her naval career.
“I should have stayed in. I’m one of those who really regret getting out,” she said, but did so after not getting a shore assignment.
At that time in her life, she said she liked to go out and have fun. “I would make very poor decisions. I got in trouble for drinking and driving.”
Ott had to face the truth in the harshest way. First, her brother was coming off his base in El Paso, Texas, when he was hit and killed by a drunk driver. But she continued to drink for five more years.
“You would have thought (my brother’s DUI-caused death) would have resonated with me,” she said. “It did not.”
Then her last DUI happened, and it was a felony.
“I was like, ‘Oh, God, I’m going to be a felon,” Ott said. “I don’t want to be a felon. My family’s going to say, ‘You know what? We told you so.’ I wasn’t about that.”
She was directed to a Veterans Treatment Court. The VTC is designed to handle cases of military veterans who are in the justice system and struggling with service-related issues, such as post-traumatic stress disorder or substance abuse. The goal is rehabilitation over punishment.
“I went through all the treatment; a lot of therapy,” Ott said. “There were a lot of social workers involved in my life. I got that felony dropped because I successfully completed all the work. Through all the social workers and therapists I had, it pushed me ever further into the realm of ‘This is what I need to do. I need to do what you do.’”
Her path brought her full circle, back to where she was as a teenager. She believed her mission in life was to help other people. This time, instead of adoptees, Ott focused on helping veterans who had strayed, as she had.
That experience brought her to the brink, and she chose to go back to school at age 57.
“I got in trouble for drinking and driving, but I always had faith in me. I had to get through all of that first to get where I’m supposed to be today,” she said. “God has put me down this path for a reason. He really, really has. And so getting in peer support, I’m very faith-based.”
Ott’s approach to peer support depends on who the person is. She wants to come to their level.
“I don’t preach to them. I don’t force my religion on them, but if they are faithful, we will pray together all day, just to get through the day,” she said. “I’m like, ‘He really does have a plan for you. If you can stay the course, your plan’s going to work.’”
Reading devotions every day, Ott enjoys the quiet and solitude with her first cup of coffee. Then she gets everyone up.
“I should have a little sign that says, ‘Do not talk to Paige before her first cup of coffee,’” she said with a laugh.
After the military, Ott moved to Chicago. She soon returned to her native Nebraska and worked to support veterans struggling to find their way. Today, she works with Justice for Vets, a division of the nonprofit All Rise that advocates and supports VTCs across the country.
“I train veterans to be mentors for these treatment courts,” Ott said. "I also am a foster care placement director.”
That last role puts her where she thought she should have been over 40 years ago – helping children be placed in safe and loving homes. She also helps care for a 33-year-old autistic man, keeping him out of group homes and maintaining his quality of life.
“I adopted my daughter, my youngest, out of foster care,” she said. “That tells you a lot; I stay (with it). I’m very well connected with the social work world, and I wouldn’t change anything.”
Her fourth daughter, 15, joins two sisters, 34 and 32, and a brother, 28.
“I should have gone to school before, a long time ago,” Ott said. “But there’s a reason I had to wait. I had to go through all of that first to get where I am today, where I could understand patience, and that is truly a virtue.”
Ott has appreciated her time at GCU.
“Honestly, GCU is the best college that I have ever, ever encountered,” she said. “Online, they make it easy. Faculty is very accessible.”
She said it's a matter of getting into the groove. She turned in her first assignment with minutes to spare. It changed her approach to school. Ott said she never likes to be late, but she felt a little alone starting online classes. Now she has accelerated her learning to graduate in 2027.
“I was worried about not being connected to people, but they offer office hours for us,” Ott said. “I log on on Tuesday nights for that, and then I get my people.”
Human feedback is essential for her.
“I love, love, love GCU,” Ott said. “I told my professor the other day that I think I want to really focus on forensic social work. She said, ‘I think you need to look into being a professor.’ And I'm like, ‘Oh, I don't know about that.’”
So what happened when Ott objected?
“She said, ‘Paige, you have what it takes to be a professor.’ So, now I'm teetering on both of those.”
GCU senior writer Eric Jay Toll can be reached at [email protected].
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