Legal Enforcement Ethics class was the toughest. Sammie Smith woke at 5 a.m. each day for a daily devotion, then to study. He never wavered this past year even though, at 52, it felt odd at first entering University of Mississippi classrooms full of, well, college-age students.
Some were football players he counseled. His life is a rich tapestry of lessons, good and bad, to tell them. This return to college ending with his graduation on Thursday becomes part of those lessons, right down to taking this Legal Enforcement Ethics class that was so tough.
“I had some background in that class, too,’’ he said, chuckling softly over his seven years in prison.