Stephanie Jessup, a police officer with the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), recently was recognized as one of nine 2021 DMV Extraordinary Women. She was one of only nine to receive the distinction among the hundreds of women employed by the DMV in Virginia.
Jessup, a Patrick native, currently lives in Christiansburg and serves as Senior Special Agent, Law Enforcement Division, Roanoke.
Jessup “has a passion for helping her community. She is involved with numerous charitable organizations. She spends a lot of time participating in events, volunteering and raising funds for the
Special Olympics. She serves on the Executive Council for Virginia Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics, in which law enforcement officers carry the Flame of Hope across the state
culminating with the lighting of the cauldron to officially open Summer Games. She also participates in The Polar Plunge, the Special Olympics premier annual fundraiser,” the DMV stated when recognizing her.
“I have been in law enforcement for 18-years and the most rewarding part of my job is being able to help others, especially individuals who are not able to defend themselves. God created us to love and help one another,” Jessup said. “Special Olympics Virginia and Law Enforcement Torch Run have been a part of my life for over 10-years. I strive to bring awareness, inclusion, and funds for Special Olympic Virginia Athletes.”
Jessup said God, as well as “an agency that allows me to do my job and be on Executive Council for Virginia Law Enforcement Torch Run,” are driving factors in her success. Additionally, “having co-workers who share the same passion and work with me to bring awareness, inclusion and funds for Special Olympics. The biggest contributor is the athletes of the Special Olympics. They have taught and continue to teach me how to push myself to be a better person, love all, work harder, and never give up.”
Finding the balance in her professional and personal life “took me many years,” she said. However, “my priority is my family, and they will always come first. I had to learn to shut my computer and phone
off at the end of the workday. I had to learn issues that couldn’t be resolved by the end of the workday
will be there the next morning but my family may not. My ride home from the office is my time to
decompress and let it go. My family doesn’t deserve half of me.”
Jessup said the best advice she ever received is simply, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Work hard, stay humble.”
