What are your plans for Spring Break?

Oh, goodness. I own my own business [Meek&Mild] that I’ve created and it’s a healthy plant-based lotion, soaps, chapsticks and etc. So, it’s important the sourcing of all of those ingredients to me where they come from and their purity and their truest form of nature. I’m a big gardener, and it’s also my goal to grow as many herbs that I use in my oils. It’s too cold to plant but I would like to prepare everything to be ready to plant it, plot it, get it mapped out, figure out what I need to order and then also make my products. It’s a little funny hobby that I just kind of posted on social media that has turned into a business…So that’s my spring break project. 

So, this project started out as a hobby? What was that like?

It started out as we had a pig process, like fed the pig, corn in the backyard so we could have the bean. Then, there’s a box on there that says, ‘Do you want the lard?’ and, I checked ‘yes’ because I knew you could turn lard into soap. Then, I just researched how to do that. I did that and posted pictures on just my Instagram account for just friends who are interested and then it kind of… carried on from there… It’s just kind of turned into something I didn’t expect, but I thoroughly enjoy it.

What are your goals in life?

I have four kids. I would like to make them successful but that doesn’t mean monetary success for me. That means godly-minded — have a heart for Jesus. Be kind to others, not be selfish and consider others. Whatever it looks like for each one of them and support them. That is my main goal is to be their mom and support them. My next goal is… I want to finish college because I don’t want to say give up on myself. When you become a parent, your needs no longer become first. I attached myself to that idea of becoming a parent at a very young age, like in my 20s, and I’m kind of rediscovering who I am because they’re gonna leave. My youngest is seven; I got some time. I need to know who I am without them and have some purpose, drive and interest. So, being able to teach and fall back on that as a career and then, who knows for this little business I’ve created goes. 

If Hollywood made a movie about your life, what would the title of the movie be?

 Oh goodness. I’m kind of a free spirit but an obedient one. Something on the lines of… Dream Chaser or Butterfly Chaser. I don’t know because there are tons of little dreams and they’re all worth chasing. Just kind of encouraging people with my story that there’s worth in chasing every dream.

What excites you in life?

I thoroughly enjoy watching nature. I like sitting on my front porch. I like walking around my yard and looking at flowers. I like looking at what nature brings in like the bees, the butterflies, any little creature, the sunrises, the sunsets, the way the wind dances across the wheat. I find joy and fulfillment. I like hunting that, seeking that and seeing God’s design.

Who brings your happiness in life?

My children definitely do. She’s lively and makes me giggle. She makes me feel safe and encourages me. It’s nice to have those people in your life.

What is your “special happy place” where you go whenever you are having a sad, rough day?

I just think sunshine, like a place where you’re just in the sunshine and then you can just feel the warmth shining on you… I do yoga and meditation just because it gives me a quiet moment to slow down and breathe but if you add the element of being in the sunshine with it, it’s like a peaceful, warm blanket.

If you could have an animal, real or fake, what would it be and why?

Goodness. I’m thinking of an otter but I don’t particularly love water. I love warm water but I don’t like cold water. They just seem like happy little creatures and I  love how they float on the water and their little babies stay on their bellies. They just kind of cuddle and hug them and I like being a mama to my kids. My oldest is 16 and I just love embarrassing them and knowing that I got them. An otter was the first thing that came to my mind.

What is it like to be a returning student and what advice would you give to students who are returning to education?

I never knew what I wanted to be as far as investing my time and money into it. I don’t think it’s bad to not know that and I would just encourage people to be courageous enough to ask other people, ‘What gifts do you see in me? What do you think I’d be good at?’ Not in a way that they have power over you but in a way that you’re worthy of becoming something. You might need someone else to just help you. Channel it or find it a little bit, whether it’s a school counselor, your favorite teacher, your friend or a parent to do that. I never ever thought I’d go back to school. Whenever I’d hear people say they’re doing that, I’m like, ‘Oh, bless your heart. Why would you want to do that?’ Now that I’m doing it and see a purpose, the end goal and how close it is, it’s fuel. It’s fun to learn and to be challenged. Every class I have, but one, is way out of my realm of knowledge and I leave here daily thinking, ‘Man, I thought I was pretty smart. I no longer feel smart.’ That humbling is okay because it shows me that I have room to grow, and therefore, I can encourage others to do so as a teacher, as a parent and as a friend. If the call is on you, go for it and get a team to support you.