Q: What does this award mean to you?
A: "This award is important to me because being a WGU student changed the trajectory of my life. The faculty and my mentors spoke such hope into my life as I was working toward my educational goals, that being recognized by my WGU family really matters to me. WGU is such a well-respected and industry-recognized learning institution, that my peers and community leaders know that my degree from WGU represents an incredible amount of hard-earned, demonstrated competency, that they respect my knowledge and wisdom that is unique to a WGU alumnus."
Q: What has been your greatest professional accomplishment?
A: "My greatest professional accomplishment is beginning a community-based free food (groceries) distribution program. In three years, we have grown from a little food (mostly bread) to serving a few families to distributing 100,000 pounds of food every week. The 100,000 pounds of groceries is the equivalent to 83,000 meals each week, 1,500 families per week, $250,000 in retail food value, and $12 million in retail food value last year. The food that we share with the community each week is rescued food from various grocery stores, distribution warehouses, rejected food from semi-trucking companies. We strive each week to share the best food items that we can rescue, so that each family that we serve receives at least 66 pounds of good-quality food products each week. The hunger and food insecurity need has increased in our community, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, so we’re serving more families in more locations in more modalities that we ever imagined that was possible. We have a large footprint in Middle Tennessee. We have also responded to communities in need, following natural disasters in West Tennessee and Southern Kentucky. Hunger and food insecurity is a nursing diagnosis, so I am serving well within my profession."
Q: What does success look like to you?
A: "Determinants of success changed for me a few years ago. I was focused on building a successful counseling practice, being financially secure, and being comfortable. After a while of nagging health problems that often lacked a definitive diagnosis, I had to quit two jobs that were important to me; university faculty, and later, creator and administrator of successful mental health programming for local court systems. I was proud of my professional and educational accomplishments – completing my fifth university degree: a doctorate degree. Health issues that resulted in a cancer scare made me refocus my priorities and become more sensitive to the needs of others. My determinants of success were no longer receiving trophies and recognition of my accomplishments, and now, those determinants are in getting much needed resources to those in need. I would consider any recognition as a platform to share the message of hope to those who need help the most."
Q: What challenges have you overcome to get here today?
A: "Building upon my answer to the previous question, health issues were my biggest challenge with reaching my goals. Success looks different in 2022 than when I was a WGU student. I earned my BSN and MSN degrees at WGU. I have learned from these challenges that overcoming them can become a platform to helping others. Also, learning how to grow our free food distribution to reach more people required an infrastructure that I had to quickly learn how to build. Securing warehouse space, forklifts, box trucks, and distribution space was a learning curve, but all of this is necessary to rescue food and distribution it to those in need. Our food distribution program grew dramatically and quickly due to the Covid-19 pandemic, so much of our work has been to build initiatives to get resources to those who need them."
Q: What does earning your degree from WGU mean to you?
A: "Earning my degrees (BSN and MSN) from WGU are important to me because it not only shows successful completion of an academic program, it also demonstrates an industry-respected recognition of competency of academic and profession-required skills and knowledge. When industry leaders see that I have not one, but two degrees from WGU, they are certain that I am professionally qualified to join their teams, and I can add a unique layer of experience and knowledge to contribute to their goals."
Q: What advice do you have for your fellow Night Owls?
A: "I am far from an expert on anything, but I would advise other Night Owls to keep reaching for their educational and professional goals. The hard work pays off, and not only will potential employers and peers know that you are competent to offer the skills and input that they need, you can have an added layer of self-confidence in knowing that you are competent for any position or project that you are interested in pursuing because of the documented and certified proofs that you have reached professionally-defined educational benchmarks and you have the diploma and certifications to support that."
Q: Who is your inspiration?
A: "My grandmother is a huge inspiration for me. Early in life, she was diagnosed with polio which caused paralysis in her left leg, among other things. Medical experts of the day explained to her and her single father that she would never walk. Not only did my grandmother work her way out of a wheelchair and walk, she did anything that she sought to accomplish, and that included dancing with the legendary singer/dancer/actor Fred Astaire when she shared a stage with him at a USO program during World War II."
Q: What does the future look like for you?
A: "My future looks bright, I suppose. Our food distribution program is growing to meet the needs of the families, friends, and neighbors in my community and geographic region; additionally, we’re developing a mechanism to support other organizations of like-minded, community-based free food distribution programs to help end hunger and food insecurity in Middle Tennessee."
Q: Is there anything else that you would like to share?
A: "It is always important to reach for your goals. Even when things look bleak at best, keep moving, keep doing, keep learning, and keep loving. Loving yourself is not a grandiose concept, but it is necessary one; take time to reflect and work from rest rather than working out of pure adrenaline. Your best inspirations can come in those moments when you think that you can’t do any more. You’re not necessarily called to be a superstar to the masses, you’re called to be a superstar within your own sphere of influence. Surround yourself with encouraging peers and knowledgeable mentors who support you emotionally and spiritually. Allow your trusted companions to speak life into you while you are speaking life into others; there is a lot of wisdom in the realization that you don’t have to have all the answers. When you lack wisdom, seek wise counsel, and walk in your awesomeness."
