Real Story: Shelley Mackey

Shelley Mackey

CSM Class of 2004, Communication

Current Job Title: Director of Communications and Media Relations, Charles County Public Schools
Transfer Institution: University of Maryland

CSM is the place where I rediscovered what I was capable of. I found the career that I'm in today because of CSM. It’s where I started my future and where everything in life just started to click for me. I always tell people I took the 10-year road to getting my bachelor’s degree.

When I graduated from high school in Charles County, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I took some classes at CSM, but at the time I wasn’t really committed to it. I ended up moving out of the area and entering the workforce.

When I was 23 or 24, I was watching all of my peers finish college and start careers, and I thought, “You know what, it’s time.” I moved back to the area, and my parents said, “Why don’t you go back to CSM?”

I was meeting with the advisor to pick my courses and started thinking about what I really enjoyed, what I loved, what I was passionate about. In high school, I always loved my English classes. I always journaled. Writing just comes so naturally to me, and so does public speaking. What field could I enter that I could use these skills and really be happy?

I took my first journalism class at CSM, and it just opened my eyes. I knew what I wanted to do. I love to write. I love to research. I love to ask questions. I love to talk with people, learn their stories, and share those stories.

CSM is special to me for a lot of reasons, not only because of the experiences I had there, but the relationships I made and the connections that I still have today. During that time, I connected with someone who worked at the college and also had a journalism background. She kind of took me under her wing and mentored me, and she was the one who talked to me about plans for moving on once I earned my two-year degree.

I really wanted to get into a solid journalism program, so I took a tour of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, which is ultimately where ended up transferring.

Looking back on my return to CSM, not only did it shape what I wanted to do with my career; it led directly to my current position. My mentor ended up being one of my colleagues and we would connect through work. She reached out to me one day and told me about a position at Charles County Public Schools. She thought that I’d be a great fit and that I should give it a shot.

Having that relationship with my mentor really put me on the path to where I am now. I don't believe that I would be where I am in my career without starting it at CSM.

View All Stories

Last updated: 8-7-26