When Dina Meixner was in college, she didn’t know that a job like the one she currently has—Clinical Team Lead of Behavioral Supports—existed as a career. She was focused on becoming an attorney and studying political science when she discovered sociology, which sparked an entirely new interest for her.

“I realized how much I liked learning about people and how they function,” she says.

The discovery redirected Dina away from studying law and toward minoring in sociology and looking for positions in that field. About 15 years ago, she began working for both public and private schools, beginning as a teaching assistant and then as a behavior specialist, returning to graduate school to get her master’s degree in psychology with a specialization in applied behavior analysis. As she was finishing out a school year, she saw a posting for a clinical support specialist at The Arc of Essex County and it seemed like a great opportunity.

“It sounded like a perfect match for my skills and education, and it seemed like a good time to make a change,” she says. “I had been working with children and teens in the IDD population and now was excited to work with adults.”

She soon had a caseload of Arc residents and day program participants to work with, checking in with each person regularly, tracking behaviors and providing supports and interventions where necessary. “When their behaviors get in the way of them living their best lives, we can come in and give them the tools they need and improve their lives and the lives of the people around them,” Dina says, adding that the best days are ones where she can see that an intervention put in place by her or someone on her team is making a meaningful difference.

Sometimes her day involves actively working on those interventions, but other times the best method is just to show up and observe. “You learn so much by just watching,” she says. “Sometimes it’s the best thing you can do.”

Dina says she loves the connections she has with those in her care, and even among those she is no longer working directly with. “You walk in and they see you and you just instantly have that connection. It’s so nice to sit and visit and talk.”

She also loves the collaboration she has with her team. “We are a small, tight team in behavioral clinical supports, but all of us work hard together and our skills and backgrounds are great complements to each other. We can come up with the best possible solutions because we have each other.”

And although Dina didn’t become a lawyer, she does think her time studying to become an attorney has played a role in her career today. “I am very attuned to individual rights and the importance of advocating for people and their rights. At my job, I constantly advocate for people in our services, it’s my number one priority.”

It’s been a lot of work to get to where she is today, but Dina is so grateful for the path that led her to her current tole. She’s thankful that her children had the chance to see that you can go to school as an adult, make a change, work hard, and find success. “I’m not just telling them, they saw it happen. They know that they can achieve anything.”