Age: 31
Business: Illinois State University
Title: Sustainability coordinator
Education: master's of science degree in Environmental Policy from Bard College; bachelor of arts degree in Biology and History from Binghamton University
Still hope to accomplish: In the sustainability field there will always be more to accomplish. I am very pleased with the progress Illinois State is making; however, what is most rewarding are the phone calls and e-mails I receive from students thanking me for the difference I've made in their lives. It's an incredible feeling. That is what I hope to continue accomplishing throughout my life -- positively impacting the people I come in contact with.
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Community service projects:
After college, I served in AmeriCorps*NCCC for a year. It was an opportunity that changed my life both in the experiences I've had and the friends that I've made. In the course of a year, I helped renovate a homeless shelter, taught literacy to children in inner city Detroit, assisted with irrigation projects on a Navajo reservation, built a boardwalk in a nature preserve in Iowa and learned to wield a chainsaw with the Colorado Division of Wildlife. That experience really taught me what I am capable of and how blessed my life truly is.
Vision for leadership: I believe true leaders inspire us to be better than what we are. Although rhetoric can be inspirational, the leaders that I admire most have inspired me through their actions and the examples they have demonstrated in their own lives.
Biggest Influence: My family. Watching my mother raise five kids as a single parent taught me the importance of strength and hope. From my father, I learned the value of hard work and family. And as the youngest sibling, I listened to my brothers and sisters say "I wish I did..." I decided to live my life so that I never say "I wish." Those influences have shaped my life immeasurably.
Best trip: I love to travel -- especially internationally, and every trip I have taken has shaped me in some way. Ecuador was by far the trip that had the most lasting impact. It is there that I met someone who changed the course of my life and helped me discover what I really value.
If they made a reality show out of your life, what would it be called? "A Day in the Life of a Traveling Accident" -- Often times my travels are random, spur of the moment choices. My friends always laugh when I call and say what are you doing tomorrow? (And they live in another state). Also anyone that knows me knows that I can trip over nothing, walk into walls, spill anything ... These may not be my most endearing qualities, but it keeps things interesting.
First job: Although I started baby-sitting at age 11, I earned my first official paycheck at age 15 from Wegmans. I worked for that grocery chain throughout high school and college and even earned a four-year college scholarship from them.
