Growing up in the back hills of Appalachia was incredibly difficult. Having many siblings around the house was one thing that always seemed to get me through the hard times. When I mention my 14 siblings to my family studies classes at Utah Valley University, I get some odd looks but not many, considering large families are common in Utah County. However, once I describe what it was like to have both parents who never finished the 9th grade and a dad who went into the coal mines at 14 years old, my students seem unable to draw from similar experiences.

Being a first-generation student was nothing I ever expected it to be. I had no interest in going to college. Where I was born and raised, the wealthy kids went to Pitt, Penn State, or UPenn. The rest of us stayed around our little town and were blessed to get any local jobs we could. My family timbered, and my dad was the best carpenter in town. My mom was even more lucky to know someone that gave her a job in county government. 

In 1993, I came to Utah and registered at Utah Valley State College (UVSC) two days before classes started. I then completed two semesters before finding out I was pregnant. I was so excited to be a mother, but my husband of just a few months was not. We went our separate ways, and I moved back to Pennsylvania, absolutely devastated.

In 1995, now back in Utah, I had my second child. I tried desperately to stay home with my two kids but with $8 in my bank account, I knew my associate degree would not be enough to pay the bills. So I decided to go back to UVSC for computer networking. I just plain hated the computer science field but I knew it would give me the financial stability I needed. One of my computer science teachers asked if anyone would be interested in being a representative for our computer club on campus. I agreed. Then a few months later, someone asked if I also wanted to volunteer in student government. I again agreed. 

At this point in my education, I made the biggest decision of my life. I switched my major to behavioral sciences. I instantly took to it and LOVED it. It was the right place for me. After just one class with Dr. David Yells and Dr. Cameron John, I knew I wanted to stay and someday teach at UVSC. I took a scholarship position on the student council under President Jared Finch, and had the best senior year of college. That same year, I remarried and had my third and last child. He was born in October, and I finished out my senior year of student government and my degree that December. I guess I made an impression on some people as a superwoman because I was nominated for UVSC Woman of the Year. That one still makes me laugh today. I was just doing what a young mom needed to do to get her degree.

After leaving UVSC and student government, volunteerism stayed with me. For 15 years I served in Rotary International, helping high school students study abroad. Countless service projects, an education mission to Brazil, and hundreds of foster youth helped at the Division of Child and Family Services led me to seek my master’s in social work and now my Doctorate of Social Work degrees.

On April 18, I gave a presentation of my doctoral findings at UVU on transitions of former foster youth, and I tell people I am a sneeze away from the doctorate. I often think about how I got so far in education, and the one thing I know made the difference was my teachers and student government at UVU. 

This August will make four years as an adjunct teacher at UVU. Those classes have given me so much happiness and such great memories of being just like my mentors so many years ago. I can’t wait to get back to teaching in the fall.