Your home: Alabaster
Your hometown: Birmingham
What is your profession? I’m a customer service manager with BlueCross BlueShield of Alabama.
What made you choose your career path? I was going to go to medical school and then I took human genetics. It was like, “Uh, this is not for me.” I majored in kinesiology because I was going to go to physical therapy school. Then I graduated, and just by different things that happened, I ended up at BCBS. I’m still in the health field, I’m just on the healthcare insurance side of things. So, I started working at BCBS and absolutely loved it. I’ve been there for 10 years.
What is the importance of having the Junior Board as part of the UMNAA? It allows the young alumni to have a voice and give back to the University in a smaller capacity than the alumni board. A lot of the young alumni are just starting out. We’re still trying to figure out what we’re going to do with our lives. So, it allows us to give back to the University and still be connected to the University. We’re able to support the young alumni and current students — we do a lot of partnering with Future Alumni of Montevallo (FAM) and other student groups.
Why is it important for young alumni to be involved? To give back to the University that gave so much to us, and just to stay connected. Building that network, those friendships and those work relationships helps tremendously when you’re looking for a job, changing career paths or even maybe just needing guidance or mentorship. Being connected to the University through the Junior Board and the UMNAA Board helps you grow as a person, the same way Montevallo helped us grow.
What sets Montevallo alumni apart? Our love for the University. We may be a smaller alumni group than some of the other major colleges, but you’ll be hard pressed to find another set of alumni that love their university, take time to tell people about their university and also give to their university how we do.
College Night is a conversation piece that bridges every alum — the memories that you make during that time and coming back making more memories with the new students and the newer alumni. Even getting to meet older alumni that were Purple, Gold or Green. I don’t think you’ll find anybody else that just loves their school as much as we love Montevallo.
What motivates you to continue your work and your involvement with the Alumni Association? The fulfillment I get out of giving back, whether it is through my time volunteering for things or through our Junior Board events. Even seeing our awards and scholarship recipients and getting to hear them and hear why being recognized means so much to them. That connection just motivates me.
What are you most looking forward to during your time as president? Endowing our second scholarship, which we just accomplished thankfully. I’m looking forward to just growing the young alumni network and growing our awards. I’m super excited for 15 Within 15 each year.
What kind of scholarships does the Junior Board offer? We have the Junior Alumni Board Leadership Scholarship, which goes to an upperclassman who is excelling academically and has outstanding records of leadership in school or community service. Then there’s the Advocate for Change Scholarship that goes to a student that is doing something to create change, whether it’s global change or community involvement. They’re just trying to change something to make the world a better place.
What is your favorite memory from your time at Montevallo? It would have to be my first College Night my freshman year — it was unreal. I just went all in. I was at the shows, I was at the games, I was at the pep rally and the sign raising. I was everywhere. PV!
What do you like to do in your free time? I’m a state volleyball official, so I love doing that. I love spending time with my husband, as well as my nieces and nephews (they’re my broke best friends).
When did you know you belonged at Montevallo? My sophomore year, I was really struggling with if I wanted to stay at Montevallo and if it was a good fit for me. I was talking with Stephanie Naish, one of the secretaries in Housing and Residence Life. I had just started working in HRL at the time, and we spent countless days talking about life. She was that person outside of my friends and my professors that just spent time talking with me, laughing with me, asking about my family and getting to know me truly as a person even though I was just a student worker. I really do credit my staying at Montevallo to Stephanie — I don’t think she even knows. Just her taking the time out to talk with me really made me feel like I belonged.
