Sweet Home: From Alabama to Oregon

I am happy to begin this class with you on Wednesday and excited about what we will learn and how we will grow. In this post, I will tell you about my journey so far and what I hope to explore in the Catalyst course.

The Rocket City

I was born and raised in Huntsville, Alabama, and the oldest in a family of three children. Throughout my childhood I swam, played soccer, rode my bike, and sang in multiple choirs. Beginning at age 4, I sang in the church choir. For high school I attended a magnet arts school where I sang in concert choir, show choir, performed as a soloist and participated in musical theater productions. Singing was a huge part of my early life.

Matthew, Meredith and me
1994

The Nation's Capital

I moved to North Carolina for my senior year of high school when my mom remarried. After graduating high school, I attended the George Washington University in Washington, DC. Despite it not being too far geographically from Alabama or North Carolina, I found the culture at the school quite different than what I was used to. As I sought to figure out where I fit, I quickly chose the business administration major for its practicality and I thought it would please my family and others. Throughout my college years, I was "very serious"- I was an honors student, always had a part-time job and various internships (from a venture capital company to a food insecurity non-profit.) If I regret anything during that time, it would be that I didn't have more fun.

After college my first job was working for an import/export company called Beijing Trade Exchange. There I was a project manager who helped American companies produce their products in China and import them to the U.S. for sale here. While I was challenged in that position, I felt unfulfilled and dissatisfied that my daily efforts were focused on producing items like industrial rain jackets for food processing or cheap bean bags that would be sold at K-mart. Six months into that job I began exploring for the first time what I was interested in doing with my life. I thought about the primary aspect of my job at Beijing Trade Exchange that I liked: working with my clients. I then thought about my favorite hobby and interest: health and fitness. I decided to become a personal trainer. I began saving money, took a certification course, and found a mentorship program. One year after graduating from college, I was free-lancing as a personal trainer for a small, women-owned gym in Washington, DC.

Roses in my neighborhood

The Rose City- Twice

After six years of living in Washington, D.C., however, I was ready for a change. I loved D.C.'s diversity, cultural opportunities, and architecture, but its expense, the "rat race", and the relative difficulty to pursue outdoor activities drew me to Portland, Oregon. I sent ten letters, had ten informational interviews, was offered two positions, and ultimately accepted a position as Fitness Director for the Portland YWCA gym in downtown Portland. There I ran the group fitness program and trained primarily senior adults and those new to fitness. I also began taking science pre-requisite classes at Portland State University in the hope of going to physical therapy school.

After deep consideration, I ultimately decided not to go to physical therapy school. My family (and a few long stories) brought me back to D.C., where I worked for the George Washington University. As an excellent benefit, GW paid for my Master of Public Health degree. In my third and final year of the program, I took a graduate teaching assistant position at the campus wellness center so that I could finish up my degree more quickly. Nearly three years to the day from when I returned to D.C., I moved back to Portland. Even before I had a job, I shipped my things to Portland and knew I would figure it out.

My first job after graduate school was a part time health coach position and working as a personal trainer. It was a challenging time and I wasn't paying my bills. Almost at the point of wanting to return to D.C. where I felt my job prospects would be better, I was offered a position at OHSU in the department of Health Promotion and Sports Medicine (HPSM). That same week I met the man who would become my husband, Connor. (That was a really good week.)

I spent three years at HPSM, primarily as a wellness curriculum writer. I built skills in writing, program development, and basic graphic design and layout. For the past year I have worked for Oregon Rural Practice-based Research Network, a division within OHSU, as a project manager. My current project is wrapping up. It has involved working with four primary care offices in Umatilla County, Oregon on care management and care coordination. The end result of the project will be a policy report to the insurance company funder and the local coordinated care organization (CCO) advisory group regarding recommendations for care coordination in the region.

View of Mt. Hood when flying to Pendleton from Portland for work
Summer 2015

I thoroughly enjoy my life here in Portland. My free time is often filled with hiking, riding my bike, Portland's wonderful food scene (as well as wine and beer), and traveling with my husband to both see our family and the world. I also sing in the choir at First Unitarian church.

I feel I'm at a cross roads of the next career step for me. I have explored academic, program management, and entrepreneurial work. I look forward to considering my career and education aspirations through our meetings and with you all.

Maggie and Connor
Falls Creek Falls, WA
April 30, 2016