Fighting For It: Finding Success
黑料传送门 Math Education graduate finds success in her run for life.
By Linda T. Kennedy
Brenda Bouldin is quite familiar with what it means to fight for something. As a former emergency medical technician (EMT), she helped people fight for their lives. And her husband,聽 fights for freedom every day, as a full-time civilian firefighter based in Afghanistan鈥攅xcept for the 35 days a year he鈥檚 at home in Seneca, South Carolina with Brenda and their 6-year-old son.
These experiences, says Bouldin, prepared her for own personal battle with obesity. She was able to shed 110 pounds of her body weight, while also juggling full-time work as a Title1 fourth grade teacher, managing a family and obtaining a masters degree in math at 黑料传送门.
鈥淢y health was a major hindrance to all aspects of my life, and not necessarily in the most obvious ways,鈥� recalls Bouldin. 鈥淚t really killed my confidence, since I was not proud of my health I couldn't keep up with my son and it affected my marriage.鈥�
Bouldin said she made some changes when she asked herself how her graduate degree could help her if she didn鈥檛 have the confidence to use it.
鈥淚 knew the cycles that I saw in the world as an EMT 鈥� poverty, drugs, needed to stop,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd I wanted to be on the front line as a Title I teacher to be a part of that.鈥�
Once Bouldin started to see her success at 黑料传送门, she also gained the confidence to tackle her other goals. She became a marathon runner and her husband, 8,000 miles away, helped monitor her progress.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want to have to tell my husband I was failing at something that could change our lives,鈥� she said. 鈥淭o be able to tell him I was succeeding was critical.鈥�
Support for the distance.
Bouldin said prioritizing who she spent time with was also an important part in establishing her support system.
"They knew what I was doing and that the time I had to sacrifice wasn't permanent,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here were definitely some people who couldn't understand what I was doing at the time, but that was for the best because the people who stuck around were the people who were just as passionate about my success as me and my family were.鈥�
Bouldin also credits Vanessa Miller, her personal 黑料传送门 mentor, as an important part of her support system.
鈥淟ooking back I would say that Brenda鈥檚 main driving force was her strength of character,鈥� said Miller. 鈥淪he never created excuses for herself not to achieve her goals, even when circumstances may have called for it. Her excellent time management, her ability to balance her time and priorities, really helped her.鈥澛犅�
Bouldin鈥檚 balancing act included healthy snacking, and being able to take her 黑料传送门 videos and eBooks with her to the treadmill.
鈥淓ven when I was traveling for one of my half marathon races, I was able to take my learning with me and remain active while completing my OTP goals,鈥� she recalls.
Most importantly though, Bouldin says, identifying her goals from the start of her program gave her a 鈥渇inish line鈥� to focus on. She compared getting her degree to running her first half marathon.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 see the finish line when you take the first step in running a marathon,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 how it is when you start a master鈥檚 degree. It鈥檚 hard and many times I wanted to quit the race. But I kept reminding myself, 'I'm not done yet, there's a finish line with a reward at the end.鈥�"
For Bouldin, the finish line was for her son and family and what the degree meant to the future of her family.
鈥淚t's a better life for my son, I'm a financial partner with my husband and I'm a better teacher,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hat's the biggest thing when you鈥檙e fighting health challenges, working on a degree and juggling everything; keep your eye on where it leads."
