I came to UCA from a very small school, Scranton, Arkansas. There were 24 in my graduating class, so as you can imagine, the thought of being on a large college campus was overwhelming. I did have the advantage of knowing my roommate before I came to Hughes Residential College, but honestly, I was scared. From day one, I was involved. On the first night after move-in there were activities for all of us to engage in and learn about each other. I signed up for intermural flag football, and a camping trip at the Buffalo River. The transition from high school to college was made simple because of Hughes. As a student worker on campus, I worked first hand in the Learning Communities office placing students in Residential Colleges and I am still a firm believer that Residential Colleges life attracts students to UCA, helps them achieve higher academics, and helps them graduate.
My education didn’t end at UCA. After graduating with my Bachelors in Family and Consumer Sciences, I accepted a County Extension Agent’s position with the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture. After working with them for 6 months, I began working on my Master’s Degree from the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville. I took the long road on my Graduate work! While in graduate school, I got married, worked (more than) full-time and proceeded to have 2 children. In August of 2007 I completed my Masters in Education. I worked for the U of A Division of Agriculture for 11 years before leaving to work for Farm Bureau Insurance.
My husband Heath and I were married in October 2002. We have two children, Meredith (11), and Eli (9) and live in Ozark, Arkansas where I am the on the Ozark City Council and Secretary of our Ozark Rotary Club. When I am not working, I spend time volunteering at church and in the community. Hughes helped me get off on the right start in college and in my professional career. I made so many lifelong friends in Hughes and a learned quickly how to network. Being from a small school, there is not much networking. I learned how to create bonds and friendship beyond my core friend group. I am amazed at how that network still comes in to play with my business today.