I was born and have been living in Gainesville, Georgia for over 40 years. 

 

My mother worked as a maid and also at the poultry plants in Gainesville, Georgia. My mother loved singing gospel music. Being an alto in the church choir, I went along with her to choir practice and sat in the church pews.  On the way home from choir practice during the summer, mother would stop at the Kool Kong to buy both of us an ice cream cone, and at other times she would buy hamburgers or hotdogs.  Joe the owner of Kool Kong was a friendly Jewish entrepreneur who also owned the dry cleaner business, Kay Kleeners, around the corner.  Joe would tease me and make me laugh, and I always enjoy going into Kool Kong.  Later my mother was fortunate to be hired at the Barry Manufacturing Company where they manufactured men’s suites and clothing. 

 

My father worked two jobs most of his life, one as a yardman mowing lawns and raking leaves and the second job at the Gainesville Cotton Mill.  After working at the Gainesville Cotton Mill for nearly 17 years, he was blessed to begin work at Wrigley’s Chewing Gum factory as a custodian.  He continued working two jobs while working at Wrigley’s in the evenings. 

 

At the appropriate age, my mother enrolled me in the Green Hunter Nursery, and I vividly remember the fun and wonderful times I had at that educational establishment.  The teachers were very innovative in allowing us to go on interesting field trips.  After Green Hunter Nursery, I attended the Gaines Mill Elementary School.  Although I liked all my teachers at the Gaines Mill Elementary School, Mrs. Williams was my favorite teacher in the entire school.  However, during one of the Christmas holidays the Gaines Mill Elementary School burned down and my friends and I were very sadden to hear about this tragedy.  So, when Christmas holidays were over, we all had to be bused to attend school in a vacant building in Flowery Branch, Georgia. 

 

South Hall Middle School was a different experience because I began to get involved in sports.  I played basketball with a great coach named Coach Baugh.  Coach Baugh was not only concern with winning the games, but also she was knowledgeable of strategic plays for us to engage in against our opponent.  Walking into Johnson High School for the first time, I felt nervous and anxious because the school seemed so gigantic.  All the teachers were very willing to help the new students arrived in his or her correct room. 

 

In 1983, I received my first degree from Gainesville College an Associate of Arts in Business Administration.  What I loved most about my first experience at Gainesville College was the diversity of students attending the school.  Most of my friends while attending Gainesville College were from West Africa countries such as Cameroon and Nigeria, and I was amazed and fascinated by their culture and learned much from them such as the foods they eat and their perspectives on life. 

 

Coming to know the Africans, I discovered that people are basically the same, and all people want the same in life of what I call the three R’s, Recognition, Respect and Reward.  People of all races, nationalities, and cultures want recognition for their work and efforts; people of all races, nationality, and cultures want esteem and reverence for their abilities and talents; and people of all races, nationalities, and cultures want incentive and compensation for their gifts and endowment.  I received my second degree an Associate of Science in Psychology in 1994 at Gainesville College.

 

I was the first in my family to receive a college degree of any kind, and my parents were proud of my accomplishments.  My goal was to achieve a bachelor’s degree, so I applied to Brenau College (the name at that time).  Now call Brenau University, I attended the university in desiring to combine the two Associate degrees from Gainesville College.  In 1996, I graduated from Brenau University with a Bachelor of Science in Human Resources Management degree with a minor in Business and both my father and mother was there to see this moment in time. 

 

I was motivated by substituting in the middle and high schools to begin my ministry of helping the indigent of Gainesville-Hall County.  I started the Butterfly Journey community outreach ministry to reach the youth of Gainesville-Hall County to enhance their reading and life empowerment skills through reading books. The purpose of Butterfly Journey is to assist people individually or in a group to learn, understand, and appreciate multiculturalism through the reading of books, arts, listening to music, and plays written by authors and artists with a multicultural diverse heritage. The concept of having a reading club to help students to increase their reading skills began in 2000, and The Circle of Friends Reading Club was born in 2001. 

 

The Butterfly Journey missions and goals has grown to also assist adults and seniors who need to learn marketable skills to obtain employment.  Basic and intermediate computer skills are taught to technological challenged individuals in different months of the year on a voluntary basis at non-profit organizations or in his/her place of dwelling.  With both of my parents passed on, my persistent compassion to help the youth, adults, and seniors is a continuing yearning in my heart.  The community of Hall County has an extensive and laborious task of working with youth and adults to give them positive and ethical leadership for upcoming and future changes of Hall County. 

 

I am a believer of Jesus Christ and the Almighty God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel (Jacob) and those principles taught by God and the Lord Savior Jesus Christ, which are in the Holy Bible.  I have a husband named Phillip and one son named Anton.