Toccara Houston

My journey to higher education was completely unexpected. I originally wanted to be a journalist - the next Oprah, Robin Roberts, or Pam Oliver covering sports. I did everything to prepare for that career: newspaper staff in high school and college, internships at the City Paper in Nashville and Cumulus Broadcasting, and membership in the National Association of Black Journalists. I'm very strategic and wanted experience in all aspects of journalism to be well-rounded. But life had different plans. I got pregnant as I was graduating, started grad school, then had to take time off when my mom got ill. I ended up in corporate America, which I hated, and got laid off. A temp agency called about a position at a college, and I took it because I needed a job and had a kid. That was 2011, and I've been in higher education ever since. I had done some work-study in admissions and student affairs giving college tours, and I really enjoyed talking about my school because I knew it forwards and backwards. I became like an ambassador. Now I work at Belmont University's medical school, which is a startup that just brought in its second class. My typical day involves setting up courses, hiring faculty, helping with course reflections, and prepping for our third incoming class of 75 medical students. What I love most is working with students - I call them grown toddlers because they're still figuring things out. I'm really good at connecting with people and reading them. I want to be the relief, not the pressure, because students already have enough stress. I even told one interviewee from Hawaii that if she gets in and needs help finding an apartment, I'd go look for her because that's a six-hour flight. This doesn't feel like work to me - it's a hobby I get paid to do. I have a college student son who I've been preparing since he was young, creating spreadsheets and finding programs that match his interests. I'm currently getting my master's in higher education from Ohio University online, and next year I'll start my PhD in educational leadership. I'm also a full-time caretaker for my 89-year-old grandfather and my mom who is a double amputee. My background is primarily in academic medicine, having worked at Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt, and the American Heart Association. I co-authored an academic paper for the National Science Foundation on rehabilitative robotics, which is significant because you rarely find someone with just a bachelor's degree getting published. I worked with an amazing roboticist who's like the Bill Gates of robotics, and we spent months on that 10-page paper. Being part of a startup medical school is a whole different experience because things are constantly changing, but the beauty of higher education is that the calendar is the same cycle every year, so you know what to expect.