Driven to serve

“I love helping people,” Ayers said. “Being the one to step up and handle situations that most people wouldn’t want to.”

Ayers told herself that if she didn’t have a career path by age 21, she would follow her childhood passion and enroll in the military. After graduating from Cincinnati’s Western Hills High School and spending some rudderless time in community college, she kept her self-promise and joined the Army National Guard in 2010.

“I loved every minute of it,” she said.

Six years of service and a 10-month deployment to Afghanistan later, Ayers was ready for her next challenge. She welcomed a son and began working for the Hamilton County Justice Center as a corrections officer. After five years, Ayers knew that earning a peace officer certification would expand her career opportunities in the field.

She applied to the University of Cincinnati Clermont College Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy in 2020. The academy is one of several criminal justice offerings by the college, in addition to associate degrees focused on corrections and law enforcement.

Once enrolled, Ayers found a relaxed environment and knowledgeable and supportive peers and instructors. Classes were offered in the evenings, which allowed her to work throughout the program. When Ayers tore her calf muscle in the middle of the program, William Dunkman, UC Clermont police academy commander, and other faculty and students were understanding — even showing up to cheer Ayres on when she had to complete her physical fitness test alone, later than the rest of the group.

“Everyone believed in me, and it showed,” said Ayers. “That support inspired me. Instructors stay in contact still to see how I’m doing. It’s an awesome support system.”

UC Clermont Police Academy Commander Bill Dunkman shares a similar path to Ayers — he started his career with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office in 1979 after receiving an honorable discharge from the U.S. Marine Corps. After 34 years in the field working as both an officer and traffic crash reconstructionist, Dunkman began teaching, joining UC Clermont in 2011. He said Ayers’s grit grew during her time in the academy.