Her Story
About barbara
My career journey has been one of transformation and following my heart. I started in the medical field and worked there for years, but when a patient I was close to passed away, it tore me up and I realized that field wasn't for me because I got too close to my patients. In 2015, I made the decision to enter education because I wanted something different in my life and I love the children in our district. I have a heart to serve and I love helping them with the issues they have. As a single parent since my mid-20s, after the military took my husband, I had to survive on my own with my kids, and going back to school was really hard for me to do, but I did it because I wanted a better life for my kids and myself. I enrolled at SNHU and started studying history, but then I switched to Human Services because that's truly where my passion lies. In my current role in education, I'm responsible for enrolling and withdrawing students, managing records on the T-REC system in Texas, handling legal and foster care paperwork, requesting records for our Spanish-speaking students including ELPAC folders, answering phones, and helping parents with registration. What I love most is getting to touch these students' hearts, especially the ones who go to alternative school or have issues at home. Those are the ones I'm attracted to and they're attracted to me. I'm in a junior high school right now, but the students want me to come to high school with them because it's so important that these kids know someone cares. I've seen kids graduate and I've even had parents come up crying, thanking me for caring about their kid enough to help them graduate. That's why I'm pursuing Human Services, because I love helping people who have lost their home, single parents, single dads, and those having emotional issues. This is exactly the field I need to be in.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with barbara
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
The advice I would give is, number one, know your passion. You know exactly what you want to do, what drives you, what makes your heart just pal with excitement. That's your passion. And if it's being in the education field, if it's being in the medical field, whatever it is, follow your heart, because that passion is what drives you, and if that passion is driving you, that's the field you need to go into. Medical was my passion at first and it was for years until that patient passed, and it tore me up, and I went, okay, maybe this is not for me, because I got real close to my patients. When I chose the field of education, I love it because I get to help kids, I get to see kids graduate, and help turn around those kids who have to go to alternative school. When I started studying human services, it was like, yep, this is it. This is exactly the field I need to be in. So that advice I would tell kids, please, please follow your passion. I'll tell anybody, follow your passion.
02What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
My faith is very strong and is one of the most important things to me. My church and those in that church who care for me help me stay strong and on the path that I'm on, because I get good advice from my brothers and sisters in Christ. I have a heart to serve, and I want these students to succeed and have a better life, to do better as young people than what I had to do when I had to learn the hard way after I got older. I want them to be able to realize who they are right now, what they can do right now, and be successful right now, not wait until their 40s or 50s to realize that they're worth something. Knowledge is power, and knowledge will open up the doors for you to be able to discover so much more and so many new things. It's so important that these kids know that someone cares.
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