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Your two jobs out of college have both been with nonprofit organizations. What made you want to get into nonprofit work?

I guess when the job opened, the description just really fit what I wanted to do, which is going into homes and helping people; what I really wanted to do was be in a “helping” career. So when the job came open and it was for a nonprofit, it didn’t really interest me necessarily because of the nonprofit aspect, but more because of the helping aspect.

How would you describe your position as a parent educator?

I work with pregnant women and families who have children from 0 to 5 years of age, and it’s for anyone living in Polk County. There aren’t any income guidelines, and it’s completely voluntary, confidential and free for anyone. So what I do is go into the home and do home visits as well as group meetings, resource and referrals, and developmental screenings for children. Basically the personal visits are the biggest part of my job, and I do home visiting daily with my families, and depending on the needs and the wants of the families, I do weekly, biweekly or monthly visits with them.

Is this a 9-to-5 job?

I have regular office hours; however, with the families that I work with, I have some that work full time as well as teenage parents, so they require me to be flexible and come in the evenings. So I have to be flexible for my families.

Is this the career you saw yourself getting into after graduation?

Not necessarily, no. Actually I didn’t even really know what a parent educator was, and I think a lot of people don’t know what it is because it’s not really an everyday kind of job. So I didn’t really know what I would do. I knew that I wanted to work with kids, and I had worked a lot in day care before this and throughout college. So when this came open, I had heard a lot about home visiting, but I didn’t know what it was exactly, but I’m really glad I got into it because I really like it a lot. And I like working with the families and seeing them progress.

You have been in this position since late December. Do you feel settled in?

Since I did this before and had some experience, I felt a little bit more comfortable when I came here. I just took on the case load that the parent educator who was here before me had, so I was kind of thrown in there and I liked that because I got to just get in there and do it all. And I like the atmosphere here; I like working in the school district, my co-workers are great and I feel really comfortable here.

What hobbies do you enjoy outside work?

I enjoy spending time with my husband, and I like to swim. I like the outdoors. I also like to read; I’m a big reader. I actually just started the Harry Potter series. I read the first one in college for a class, but it’s been a long time, so I’m starting over and starting to read through all of those. I’m also a big Nicholas Sparks fan, but I got through all of his books so I moved on to a new series.

Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?

I really like this job so far. I haven’t been here for very long, but I could see myself moving up in the ranks a little bit, maybe coming into the leadership aspects of it. However, I really like working directly with the families, so I think that if I did move up a little bit, it might take away from what I really like to do and that’s working directly with the kids and the families.

Is there one piece of advice or a motto that you try to live by?

I wouldn’t say a motto, but I was brought up to work really hard. My parents were always behind me 100 percent, so they always encouraged me to do whatever I wanted to do and go after it. So I guess I always look at that aspect as working hard and doing the best that you can every day.