From Addict To University Of Washington Graduate, Ginny Burton Is At The Top And Still Climbing

After multiple incarcerations, Ginny Burton has become a top scholar

Ginny Burton, a mother of three and a first-generation college student, has her sights set on becoming an attorney. Despite a trauma-filled upbringing that led to her being incarcerated multiple times, she has become a 2020 Truman Scholar, a highly competitive $30,000 graduate school scholarship. She is also a Martin Honor Scholar and has earned a total of $74,000 in scholarship.

“People function in patterns. If we don’t have any kind of perspective to look at beyond our own, it’s really easy to fall into the trap of teaching what we know. It’s almost like having blinders on. I think my parents did the best they could with what they knew. There was definitely some mental illness there, and some addiction. I was taught the same thing that they knew, period. When my dad got out of prison, he never came back. But my mom and I, unfortunately, were using (drugs) together. We were in prison together two times. I think she taught me what she knew how to teach me. And so, I tried to do the exact opposite, and not impact my kids with my lifestyle. And their lives were still impacted.”

“I talk to my kids very openly about what my life looked like, you know, because I don’t want them to follow down my path. It’s a painful path. I don’t wish it on anybody. I’m grateful for it in my life, but it wasn’t fun and it wasn’t easy. Some days I’m surprised that I’ve actually made it through. I try to live really steady. I’ve learned that strength comes from being able to put one foot in front of the other day after day, regardless of what’s in front of you.”

“I thought I had destroyed my opportunities to practice law in any kind of way. When I got out of jail in 2012, I started working in social services. I quickly moved up to supervising a number of programs. When I started school, I didn’t necessarily think that there was a potential for me to practice law. It wasn’t until the last maybe nine months that I recognized that it was possible, and then I had people in my life that might be able to help make that happen.”

“I think that there needs to be a different kind of awareness when prosecuting crimes.”
GINNY BURTON

Burton was arrested more than 20 times, desperate to feed her drug habit. She did it all from identity theft, to assault, armed robbery, even stealing from drug dealers. After serving time in every women’s prison in the state, in 2012 something changed.

“I was looking at my fourth prison sentence and I made a decision. The minute I got into the police car. That was it. I was done and I was super grateful I had been arrested because I knew it was going to give me an opportunity to change my life,”

“I plan to try to change policy, change policy in the prison system, change policy in our homeless systems and start to try to put some lived experience into the way things are being conducted,” said Burton.

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