Hollins Abroad—Paris gave me a global perspective that everyone is the same. It was pivotal in my life. I see a much bigger picture because of it. As human beings, we all really want the same things: healthy, happy families, education for our children, peace. That’s where everyone is coming from, but people don’t always connect the dots on how to get to these places. People are the same, but experiences have given them different hands to play.

Katy Barksdale ’77 (right) and her daughter Kat Pattillo campaigning in the recent Georgia runoff.

Politics was in my blood, and I was encouraged to be part of the process. My grandfather was in the [Georgia] state legislature, and my father was behind the scenes. I worked in D.C. for Democratic and Republican Senators from 1976 until 1983. The voices were mostly men. Having women’s voices changes things and changes the process. Women tend to see the long game and don’t have a need for short-term gratification.

In order to affect systemic change, you’ve got to change policy. And to affect policy, you need to affect lawmakers. I went to Emory University Law School and practiced real estate law at my father’s firm after he passed away, because that was what was needed. I practiced until my third child was born. I got involved with the Boys and Girls Club of Atlanta and chaired the board.

In 1999, I ran for the Atlanta Public School Board, served two terms, and was board chair for the last two years of my final term. Education is the biggest lever for change. This was the hardest job I’ve ever done. If a country can’t educate its people, democracy can’t prosper. We have great public schools in the U.S. and brilliant teachers. We focused on teacher training – that’s what changes things when teachers are well trained. I also work in Sierra Leone supporting teacher training.

What drives me is thinking about the past and the future, about all the people who have worked for years in Georgia to get voters registered. I feel like it’s my turn to do that. I think about all my great nieces and nephews and see how the laws passed now will affect their lives. We all have a responsibility to make things better. I poll watch, I canvass for candidates. I like to be hands-on and for people to see that I care about these issues.

Storytelling and images also affect change. I wanted to create a documentary about Sierra Leone, which I started in 2017. My niche is to fund start-up grants for first-time filmmakers and to help promote stories of racial justice. I had known John Lewis my whole life – he was my congressman – but no one knew his story.

John Lewis never gave up. He had this peace about him. He wasn’t driven from ego, was hopeful, and always kept his eye on the longer-term goal of justice. Sometimes I think about what has been lost in the political process is the ability to collaborate and to maintain hope through ups and downs. John was an incredible man filled with love and hope and humor. I want people to be inspired to be hopeful, not to give up, and to realize that a lot of people have worked so hard to get us here. Everybody wants peace. How do you get there? A person like John Lewis can inspire you to do that.

To make change, you really want to be strategic. Great civil rights leaders used strategy. It goes back to Hollins and the [lesson] of trying to affect change everywhere you are. It doesn’t have to be big demonstrations, but we all need to be involved in the political process.

Kathryn Henningfeld Fort ’99

The Washington Post recently described Kathryn Fort as one of the country’s foremost experts on the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). “So that was pretty cool,” she says with trademark deadpan.

For nearly 15 years, Fort has worked to safeguard the 1978 federal law that prioritizes placing American Indian and Alaska Native children in foster and adoptive homes of family members, members of their tribe, or with other American Indian or Alaska Native families. Before Congress passed the law, the National Indian Child Welfare Association reports, 25 to 35 percent of all native children were being removed and of those 85 percent were placed in homes outside their tribes, even when willing relatives were available. The United States has a dark history of ripping native children from their communities earlier than that. In the late 19^th and early 20^th century, the federal government removed American Indian children from their families en masse and shipped them to boarding schools, where many were abused or killed. “Even today, Native children are four times more likely than white children to be placed in foster care in the first hearing before a judge,” Fort says. “Ensuring their families receive all of the services possible and keeping those children connected to their tribe is the purpose of ICWA. I have been lucky enough to see what it means when a child gets to grow up in her tribe, and ICWA can make sure that happens.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5^th Circuit agreed in November to rehear the lawsuit Brackeen v. Bernhardt. The plaintiffs, who include non-Indian adoptive parents of Native children and the states of Texas, Indiana, and Louisiana, argue ICWA is race based and violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Defendants in the case include the federal government, federal agencies, and several tribes. Fort serves as one of the lawyers representing the tribes. Speaking about the appeal, Fort told The Washington Post she wished Texas had put the resources used for this case toward improving the lives of foster children in the state.

“Given that a federal judge this week [Nov. 5] fined Texas $50,000 a day until they fix their broken child welfare system,” Fort says, “it seems beyond the pale for them to try to continue to strike down a law that is designed to help children and families in that very system heal and reunify.”

The case is almost certain to end up at the highest court in the land. “I don’t want to go to the Supreme Court,” says Fort, who majored in history at Hollins. “Very little good comes out of the Supreme Court these days.”

When she’s not writing legal briefs, Fort can often be found at her main gig: directing the Indian Law Clinic at Michigan State University College of Law. There, she guides students as they draft appellate briefs or policy papers for American Indian tribes.

šó´Ç°ůłŮ’s American Indian Children and the Law, the first casebook ever published on American Indian child welfare, came out this year. She spent 10 years writing the book, the result of years of discussions with Native lawyers and families, tribal leaders, and professors.

In addition to her duties at Michigan State, Fort works as a consultant, writing needs assessments of tribal courts in Alaska, which are used to secure federal funding from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. That means she’s forever flying into remote villages on teeny airplanes in the worst possible weather.

“They don’t really want you coming in the summer,” Fort explains. “The summer is when they’re doing all the hunting and fishing for the winter, so we go a lot in the winter and it can get dicey quick trying to get out to the villages. I hate the little planes so much. I love meeting everyone and doing the work, but man, I hate the process of getting there.”

Helping tribal courts to increase their funding is positive work, Fort believes, but she calls it “incremental.” She points to how many of the native communities have no law enforcement presence to protect them. “What we do is very small compared to what needs to be done.”

—Beth JoJack ’98

A tangible legacy

Susan Woods Jennings ’73

Last September, Jennings won the 2019 Perry F. Kendig Award, jointly sponsored by Roanoke College and Hollins. She is flanked by Roanoke College President Michael Maxey and Interim President Nancy Oliver Gray. Photo by Carissa Szuch Divan

Few leaders have left as visible of a mark on the Star City as Susan Jennings.

She’s the reason children delight over the Trojan Dog, a 10-foot-tall fiberglass doggie created by Roanoke artist Ann Glover that sits beside the Raleigh Court Library. She’s why drivers on Interstate 581 strain their necks to get a glimpse of Global Harmony, a light-up sculpture of a giant bronze hand holding a silver globe by Arizona artist Stephen Fairfield, as they pass over the corner of Wells Avenue and Williamson Road

This summer Jennings retired from her post as Roanoke’s first-ever arts and culture coordinator. By her last day on the job, the city’s collection had grown to 160 pieces of public art; 71 of those pieces were acquired after Jennings took the job.

Back in 2002, Roanoke launched a Percent for Art program, where city leaders put aside one percent of Roanoke’s capital budget toward buying public art. The city hired Jennings in 2006 and she began working with members of the Roanoke Arts Commission to draft comprehensive guidelines for how to select and install the pieces. Over the years, Jennings’ job description evolved to include everything from cataloguing the city’s art pieces to organizing concerts in parks to figuring out whether In a Tangle, a sculpture of a comb that did double duty as a bike rack, could be restored after a piece fell off (it couldn’t).

Of the many public art projects Jennings has coordinated over the years, her favorite piece is Reading Garden by Colorado’s Madeline Wiener. The installation sits next to the Gainsboro Library. Members of that community worked with the artist to name the books carved out of limestone and provide images that were sandblasted onto their surfaces. The citizen collaboration continued on the day of installation, when workers began at 7 in the morning and were still at it by 7 that night due to problems that ranged from a crane getting stuck in the mud to a fire alarm erroneously going off. When it got dark, a community leader quickly arranged for someone to bring down a spotlight. “The neighbors just pitched in so beautifully,” Jennings recalls.

Before going to work for the city of Roanoke, Jennings spent 14 years leading the Arts Council of the Blue Ridge, the now-defunct nonprofit organization that advocated for the arts, staged exhibits, and led workshops for students, artists, and cultural organizations. Earlier in her career, Jennings came up with the idea for ArtVenture, which began in 1993 as a hands-on art center aimed at fourth and fifth graders at what was then called the Art Museum of Western Virginia in Roanoke. That project evolved into what is now an exploratory gallery at the Taubman Museum of Art, where children can do things like play dress-up on a real stage or paint or learn about 3D printing.

Jennings, who majored in art history, believes her work creating a robust arts and culture scene in Roanoke has given a boost to the city’s economic well-being. Sculptures, ballet performances, and concerts in the park elevate the quality of life in the city, which helps to entice professionals and businesses. “It’s just another arrow in the quiver that gets people to locate here,” she says. Jennings points to a recent study conducted by Washington D.C.’s Americans for the Arts that found that arts and culture generates $64 million annually for Roanoke’s economy.

“You always want to leave a job on a high note,” Jennings says of her decision to retire this year. “I felt like we had laid a really good base and it’s time for somebody else to come in with some new innovative ideas.” That somebody turned out to be Doug Jackson M.F.A. ’06, a longtime member of the Roanoke Arts Commission and an evangelist for building creative communities. “He’s going to be excellent,” Jennings raves.

While Jennings is excited to have more time to spend with her husband and grandchildren, she hasn’t hung up her hat entirely. She serves on the boards of the Carilion Clinic’s Dr. Robert L.A. Keeley Healing Arts Program, the Changing the Narrative project, which strives to promote racial healing, and the President’s Advisory Board at Hollins.

On September 24, Jennings was honored with a 2019 Perry F. Kendig Award at a ceremony at Roanoke College. The award, cosponsored by Roanoke College and Hollins, was established in 1985 to recognize excellence in arts and culture in Roanoke and is cosponsored by the two institutions. “It was a wonderful way to retire,” Jennings says of the recognition.

—Beth JoJack ’98

Anna Copplestone ’06, ’15

As a kid, Anna Copplestone spent every available minute playing in the dirt. “That was all I wanted to do,” she says.

That obsession for the natural world didn’t dissipate as Copplestone grew into an adult, but she couldn’t picture it translating into a profession. “I never thought of it as a career path,” she says.

A few years after graduating from Hollins with an interdisciplinary major in psychology and social work, Copplestone married Jon Guy Owens, director of the Hollins Outdoor Program. For a decade, they lived in a campus farmhouse, where they raised their son, Henry.

Copplestone worked a series of jobs at Hollins, from audiovisual technician to help-desk coordinator. Working in an office wasn’t ideal; at first, she got regular headaches. “That went away with time,” she says.

Copplestone earned a second bachelor’s degree from Hollins in 2015 in environmental studies. “That just opened up lots of ideas for me,” she says.

In her free time, as always, Copplestone lived outdoors. She volunteered with the Roanoke Tree Steward program, created a campus tree guide, served as founding chair of the Hollins Tree Campus USA program, served on Hollins’ Environmental Advisory Board, and supervised Hollins’ community garden.

She found this work so rewarding that an idea about making a career change was taking shape just as Copplestone received a call from retired Horizon program director Celia McCormick, who was, at the time, on the Roanoke Community Garden Association board.

McCormick asked Copplestone to join the board of the nonprofit, which runs five community gardens in the city of Roanoke and offers regular horticulture classes. When Copplestone learned the association was hiring a new executive director, she was much more interested in that.

Copplestone applied, got the job, and it’s basically her dream come true. “This has been huge for me,” she says. “It’s something that I didn’t see coming, but that I was definitely beginning to look for.Ěý“

Her first day of work was the first day of February this year, a mere 12 days before the yearly garden registrations began. “There was not a minute to lose,” says Copplestone, who moved with her family to a house in Troutville last year. “Very quickly I had to figure out the process of enrolling gardeners, getting them signed off and making sure that they had everything they needed, and quickly familiarizing myself with our different garden locations,”

A garden plot costs $30 per season. The association offers waivers for gardeners who can’t afford that. “We’ve got gardeners who are literally trying to feed themselves,” Copplestone says. “Some people are trying to spend more time outside with their kids and so they bring their kids to the gardens. We have older gardeners with walkers.”

Depending on the time of year, Copplestone might spend as much as a quarter of her work hours outside. The rest of the time is spent doing things like fundraising, promoting the gardens to other nonprofit organizations and community groups, coordinating volunteers, and planning educational programming.

Being in the actual gardens is her favorite part of the job, she says. “I love seeing what people are growing.”

—Beth JoJack ’98

Summer camp forever

Jenna Milton ’13

Jenna Milton has taken about a gazillion pictures of Zephyr, the first baby horse born at Ekone Ranch in 11 years.

Milton works as an office assistant and horse manager for Sacred Earth Foundation, the nonprofit in Eastern Washington that oversees the 1,138 acres that make up Ekone Ranch. Camps for kids and workshops for adults are held on the land, and it’s also the site of a green cemetery.

Milton, a native of Corvallis, Oregon, first came to Ekone as an 11-year-old camper. Back then, it wasn’t unusual to see a foal crossing the meadow. Things changed in 2007, when the ranch’s founder died unexpectedly. “So there was a lot of other priorities between his death and trying to figure out how to keep going until we felt ready to actually have a horse baby again,” Milton explains.

The foal, then, symbolizes stability for Ekone. Devotees of the ranch have not only kept its gates open, they’re also running a capital campaign to raise $2 million for much-needed renovations to the aging camp buildings and to build new facilities for the next generation of campers.

Maybe those campers will be like Milton, a young girl with an interest in horses that transformed into an obsession at Ekone. Eleven-year-old Milton found the majestic animals much more accepting than her adolescent peers back home. “It doesn’t matter what brand of jeans you wear to horses,” she says.

Milton attended camp most years until she graduated from high school, when she got to work at Ekone for the entire summer as an intern.

As a Hollins student, Milton took riding classes to keep her horse fever at bay until she could return to Eastern Washington during the summers. “It was my dream to work here someday,” Milton says of Ekone. “But also, we’re a small nonprofit, so I wasn’t really sure that was going to happen.”

After graduating from Hollins with a degree in studio art, Milton spent another summer at Ekone before hitting the open ocean with her boyfriend (also an Ekone alumnus). They spent 16 months sailing to New Zealand and later moved to Australia before parting ways.

Even after those international adventures, Milton’s passion for Ekone didn’t dampen. When she returned to the United States, she headed to the ranch to work as summer staff and then stayed on as a volunteer for a year. After putting off her departure several times, Milton had finally set a date to leave the ranch and start job hunting.

A few weeks before she was to leave, the executive director called Milton into her office. She needed help running Ekone while coordinating the capital campaign. Milton agreed to come aboard. “I don’t have $30,000 to give to this place,” she says, “but I do have my time and myself and everything that I have learned.”

—Beth JoJack ’98

Dannette Gomez Beane ’02

Dannette Gomez Beane believes in education. She points to herself as living proof of its transformative power. “I am a first-generation college student,” she said. “I’m Latinx and my family was below poverty level.” Today, Gomez Beane enjoys her work as an administrator at a major university. “Education is really the key,” she said.

Gomez Beane grew up the youngest of three children raised by a single mother in San Antonio, Texas. Her two brothers weren’t interested in college. Gomez Beane’s mother insisted that her daughter would be going.

Once Hollins’ admission office identified Gomez Beane as a prospective student, the staff made frequent contacts, she remembers. They even paid for her to visit Roanoke after she received her acceptance letter, knowing she couldn’t afford the trip on her own.

Their efforts paid off. Gomez Beane enrolled.

Arriving at Hollins as a first-year student, Gomez Beane remembers recognizing that she stood out “in a sea of white faces,” but that feeling didn’t hold her back from making an indelible imprint on campus. “I maximized every opportunity,” she said.

Gomez Beane cofounded the Mujeres Unidas (United Women) club, which worked to promote diversity on campus, and served on the Student Government Association’s student appeal board. She spent two semesters studying abroad at the Center for Cross-Cultural Studies in Seville, Spain.

After graduating with a double major in communication studies and Spanish, Gomez Beane moved briefly to Washington, D.C., before getting a call from Celia McCormick, then Hollins’ dean of admissions, explaining they had her in mind to fill an opening in the admission office. “I ended up loving the work,” she said.

McCormick cautioned Gomez Beane that to thrive in higher education, she’d need a master’s degree. So in 2004, Gomez Beane headed to Virginia Tech, where she earned a master’s degree in counseling. She then took a position as an academic advisor for the Virginia Tech College of Architecture and Urban Studies. “Really fun work, but I knew those four years I was mostly serving very privileged students,” Gomez Beane said. “That wasn’t what I was put on earth for.”

Gomez Beane moved across campus in 2009 to serve as the director of recruitment and diversity initiatives for the graduate school. She was charged with attracting and retaining students from underrepresented populations. She often told students about how education had made the difference in her life. “I knew how important that master’s was for catapulting my career,” she said.

The same year, Gomez Beane began working toward a doctorate degree in counselor education. By 2017, she was putting the finishing touches on a dissertation about counselors’ engagement with social issues advocacy for African-American students.

Gomez Beane and her husband planned to move back to Texas with their three children. She’d already interviewed with some universities out West when leadership at Virginia Tech offered her a new position as the director of recruitment and operations of undergraduate admissions at Virginia Tech. “The timing was great,” she said. “My kids didn’t want to move.”

The pace and the volume of work in this new role have been a good fit for high-energy Gomez Beane. “The stakes are a lot higher in undergraduate admissions at Tech than any other place I’ve ever worked,” she said.

—Beth JoJack ’98

Setting her sights on film

JasmineĚý“Jazzy” KettenackerĚý’12

When Jazzy Kettenacker mentions she had a “cool fall,” it’s a bit of an understatement.

In October, Kettenacker learned a two-minute video about the Florida Gulf Coast University’s jazz ensemble, which she filmed with Tim Clark, had been nominated for a Suncoast Regional Emmy Award. Her short documentary “St. Louis Slam,” about a women’s tackle football team of the same name, debuted at the St. Louis International Film FestivalĚýon November 11.

The native Missourian had been mulling the idea of doing a documentary on the team, which is part of the Women’s Football Alliance, for ages, but was spurred into action after reading negative comments, written by men, about women playing football.Ěý “This was a great opportunity to…kind of prove to everyone that women can do this, this sport that is considered masculine,” Kettenacker said.

The premiere was Kettenacker’s first time attending the St. Louis International Film Festival, but it marked the second time organizers included her work in the lineup. Kettenacker’s film Rumble Young Man, Rumble made its debut at the 2011 St. Louis Film Festival. She made that film, about a boxing program for children run by employees of the St. Louis police department, as part of an independent study class at Hollins.

Kettenacker didn’t make it to the screening that year because she didn’t want to miss class. “So I definitely wanted to see the second one,” she said. She’s glad she did. Several members of the St. Louis Slam joined her at the premiere. “It was pretty awesome,” she said.

Kettenacker set her sights on a career in film at the age of 13 after watching The Mask of Zorro. By the time she got to Hollins, Kettenacker was envisioning working, one way or another, with scripted programming: “stuff you see on TV and the big screen,” she explained.

Kettenacker credits Amy Gerber-Stroh, associate professor of film, whose lengthy filmography includes documentaries, with showing her the profound storytelling opportunities available to nonfiction filmmakers. The genre also appealed to Kettenacker’s do-it-yourself-punk-rock sensibilities. “You don’t have to pay for actors,” Kettenacker explained. “You don’t have to pay for a whole crew.” When she works on her own, Kettenacker gets to decide how each shot looks and how the overall narrative unfolds. “I like having creative freedom,” she explained.

In February, Kettenacker moved to Orlando to work as a staff videographer at University of Central Florida. Despite her busy 9-to-5 life, she plans to continue making personal projects. “Short and sweet” documentaries work for her, Kettenacker said, because of her time limitations and because today’s audiences have short attention spans. “Everyone wants their information quickly,” she said.

—Beth JoJack ’98

Krispy Kremes melt at the touch, are tender and loving, are used by my family to perform a wholeness we do not always feel. An aunt is in town. She arrives bearing bright pink lipstick for my mother and a flat iron, to make us less depressed, more stable, with tamer hair as the humidity reaches peak subtropics.ĚýMy mom says,Ěýąő’mĚýgonna pick up some donuts. And she does, puts on a pot of coffee, Folgers, both bitter and flavorless. I want to shove every single donut in my mouth, every flavor, even the sticky jelly I am not sure I even like, to achieve the moment where the satisfaction melds with the body like water, holds steady this Saturday morning, in a city in Alabama where the women converge but do not cackle, do not coven. I show little resistance to my favorite sweet and sneak back to the box, guiltily, cutting a donut in half. I eat everything now by half, hoping to become whole.

At [Hollins], years later, classes are suspended for most of the day, usually after an autumn chill has swept clear the mountainside of snakes. Young women dress, to climb Tinker Mountain, in leotards and spandex, feather boas and glitter, perform skits mocking the administration, eat fried chicken, grow fat on cake. But before they do, Krispy Kremes are served alongside eggs, the kitchen staff having gotten up even earlier to cater to this tradition that cracks dawn and welcomes the sleepy brood. Before this, the students sense it coming, sometimes cruising around late nights before this day, searching out the Krispy Kreme truck’s 4 a.m. proximity to the campus. It’s important to be in the know. It’s important to signal this to one another, to herald the arrival of something important early; a prophet is only as good as her promptness. The donuts are the green light, and they say, “This morning the world is more magical than yesterday was or tomorrow will be. We promise you only that.” Though coffee served tastes like ash, as always, as expected. But for years we choke that down, always with the promise that if we can climb a mountain, fueled on sugar and youth, we can get through anything.

My friend Meghann, an illustrator based in Toronto, draws a pink donut inspired by me and sends it along with another print of hers I order. Later she asks for permission to sell prints of the donut, as if I were the creator. I am only the muse. If we live in a world where a donut still life, inspired by me, can generate income for my friends, then we live in a world better than the one I would have designed. We live in a world full of light. Imagine a hole so big your eye is visible on the other side, blinking with the speed and regularity with which you in particular blink. The person who faces you and the pastry framing your eye like a monocle must be delighted, or a type of dead if not. Holes within holes to let in light. “There is a crack in everything,” sayS Leonard Cohen. “That’s how the light gets in.” Your iris constricting to keep you safe, to allow you to see the broad range of colors the world has to offer. Lavender, a shocking pink, or the warm khaki of a good glaze.

I’ve had my life wrecked and made better by a sour-cream donut at Peter Pan Donuts in Greenpoint, Brooklyn’s Polish neighborhood, where if I tried I could probably find pączki, and believe me, I will try. I’ve subsisted off Entenmann’s donuts and live now close to its factory in Queens—my life a series of gas-station-donut moments, the comfort of junk. I think back to my sister buying me a donut before school, which is not the genesis of my love of them, but simply a continuation in the narrative. What is the narrative about any woman’s relationship with food? If you strip it of what gets projected onto a woman’s body, it’s simply joy. I earned this, I want to say, but I’ve nothing to earn. The joy is momentary, but it is there, unearned and unasked for, rising up like a balloon before it disappears. All I can say to this joy is thank you and goodbye. And so I do.

Miranda Dennis works in digital advertising in New York City and lives in Queens with a fat cat and a messy, well-loved bookshelf.

This is an excerpt from “Of Donuts I Have Loved,” first published in the online edition ofĚýGrantaĚýmagazine: .

Question: When you were a student at Hollins, did you think about what your work/life balance would be after graduation?

“I thought about it slightly more than never! But I always just assumed I would have kids and have a full-time career.” Class of 1998

“I didn’t use that term, but I distinctly remember, while at Hollins, that I couldn’t spend all my time studying and neglect my friendships if I still wanted them to be my friends after graduation.” Class of 2009

“I thought my work life would consume about 40-50 percent of my time and my personal life the rest. I thought it would be easy to keep them separate, but it is not. Work life is all consuming and I find little time/energy for my personal life.” Class of 2006

“I thought about it often in imagining my future work life. My mother was a ‘stay-at-home’ mom, but she also did a large amount of volunteer work in the community, so her time was filled with commitments, and yet she was flexible so we could travel as a family. I saw how she was in charge of her own time rather than being accountable to an employer. For me, that was true “work/life balance” and a goal I aspired to. Of course, that required one full-time worker in the family or independent wealth. I believe that my era (mid ’80s) was the last group of young women where there was a certain percentage who expected to marry and NOT work after graduation. There was much debate about being supported by your husband versus being an independent woman. I wanted to work but never felt the need to give hours and hours to a job because my life outside the job was equally or MORE important to me .” Class of 1984

“I’ve always used this phrase ‘margin time’ that my high school history teacher taught to us. If life is writing a paper, you have to find space in the margins for yourself.” Class of 2013

“I only knew that I wanted both a demanding career and a family without thinking about how that would play out in reality.” Class of 2000

“It never occurred to me when I was in college (or younger) that there would be an imbalance. It never occurred to me when I was working too much that that was not exactly what I was supposed to be doing. It was not until someone started singing this tune about 7-8 years ago that I began to even contemplate the concept.” Class of 1992

“It resembled my mother’s life. That was the only frame of reference I had at the time.” Class of 1987

Question: Is the reality of your work/life balance now different from how you thought it would be when you were a Hollins student?

“I have less to balance than I thought I would because I don’t have children or a husband.” Class of 2003

“More complex than I thought; it takes organization and skill that are hard to learn.” Class of 1997

“I didn’t think about how much ‘work’ was not actually being employed. It’s also cooking and cleaning and organizing. Some might say that that is all part of life, but I disagree. Just because that household work is in my home and is not for money does not mean it’s any less work and throws off my work-life balance.” Class of 2013

“I’m a single mother now, and that was not anything I had considered before it was becoming a reality.” Class of 2000

“Never imagined I’d quit work and stay home with kids.” Class of 1998

“It is much harder than I expected and my career has taken a back seat at times. Also, my husband is now a ‘stay at home dad.”’ which works well for us but is unusual, still.” Class of 1984

“I think I always knew that it would be hard to maintain a healthy work-life balance but I don’t think I appreciated how hard that would be. I always knew I wanted to be married, but I don’t think I ever thought about how my schooling and career path would impact my significant other. In other words, when you’re in college, you’re often tied to no one so the world is your oyster. You can travel when and where you want, go to school for as little or as long as you want, make as little or as much as you want, work as much or as little as you want, etc. But once you have another person in your life be that a significant other and/or children, those decisions are no longer just about what you want; it’s about balancing what you want with what your significant other wants (keeping in mind they may have their own careers/wants/dreams) and what’s best for your children. As a college student, I think I theoretically understood that, but you just can’t appreciate the implications of that until you live it.” Class of 2006

“We can be contacted (personally or professionally) anytime of the day or night via various platforms such as email, apps, etc.” Class of 1998

“While I didn’t think about it per se in college, I always envisioned a different life than what is happening now.” Class of 1990

“I always knew I would work. I hoped to have children and a family but wasn’t ready for the gritty details of getting everyone dentists’ appointments, the bathrooms cleaned and health insurance availability. It is harder.” Class of 1985

“Much harder to balance being a working mom with career aspirations, raise two kids, be a good wife and give back to my local community. I never thought I would have to say ‘no.’” Class of 2004

“I left the workforce to become a full-time mom after a terrible child care experience. It’s too difficult to do it all – all at the same time.” Class of 1990

“I have been surprised at how much I feel the need to balance work with family life but also vice versa. My work is important to my mental well-being as much as my family is. That said, there is no balance. There are peaks and valleys.” Class of 1990

“In college I thought of work as separate from home life, and in my early jobs out of college it was. But I transitioned into the nonprofit sector and love what I do for work, so it feels less like work and more of an extension of my life.” Class of 2006

“I did stay home with my children for many years. In college I didn’t think about how to balance life once I went back to work. It didn’t occur to me I would need to also balance special time with my husband, extended family, and friends. My mother made this look easy!” Class of 1989

“I underestimated my need to be successful, yes somewhat for myself, but more importantly as a competition; at Hollins my competitive outlets shifted from extra-curricular to work. This was good for my career, not for balance. I married in late 20’s and didn’t have my son until early 30’s. And I had to make changes.” – Class of 1992

“In college, I fantasized working all the time would be like what I saw in Sandra Bullock movies, fun. It’s not. I’m finally on the executive track and I’m questioning it because I have no life.” Class of 2008

“I think it is better. A lot richer than I’d imagined. You just never know where your choices might take you.” – Class of 1991

“It did not occur to me back then how important being at home for my kids would be to me.” Class of 1990

“I had misconceived notions about work/life balance and salary expectations, as well as the difficulty of finding employment. Much of my expectations were based on my parents’ careers. I graduated during the financial crisis of 2008, which affected my job search greatly. I think my generation differs from previous generations in that technology has changed the concept of 9-5 work days and true paid time off. Many employees are now expected to be available at all hours. A benefit of technological advances, though, is that there is the option to work remotely, which is helpful to those with children.” Class of 2008

“I’ve opted for a low stress job, but I still can’t do it all. The house never feels clean enough, making dinners every night, helping the kids with school work. It’s still a lot but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.” – Class of 1997

“My children are now grown college graduates, but I will answer for the years when they were at home: I expected greater flexibility and understanding from other women in the educational/academic world, especially those in leadership. There is almost none.” – Class of 1980

“I am working full time, plus have a part-time job, in order to advance my career, which is a second career started once my children were older. I never considered that at this age I would be planning for new horizons while keeping my partner happy with my availability.” – Class of 1987

“I didn’t realize how all-consuming children would be, and it is something that I have to work at all the time. Healthy marriage and children don’t come out of a vacuum. They take work.” Class of 1991

”When I was still in college, I never thought about work/life balance and didn’t really know the phrase existed. And even during the ten years after graduation, I never really thought about it. When I started working for Random House, the phrase began to be used, but I had an amazing boss who cared a lot about it so I always felt there was a good balance. Later, after he left the company and I got a new boss, I realized that a good work/life balance only exists when the boss believes in it.” Class of 1991

Question: Is balancing work and life a challenge for you? How do you find balance?

“Yes, I want to do my best and excel at work, and I often work late or come in early voluntarily to do so. My job also demands occasional evening and weekend work that can be physically draining (events). More and more I feel the responsibility to respond to texts or calls from my manager or other coworkers at night or on the weekends. I balance this by sharing responsibilities with my husband; trying to set expectations about sacred personal time when I cannot be reached; and using all vacation days offered me.” Class of 2002

“It is a financial challenge more than anything else. There is never enough money being made to create the quality of life that gives balance. If more money is made, work is primary. If less money is made, life is hard.” – Class of 2003

“I still see work-life balance as a privilege. There are many people who simply do not have that luxury because they’re just working to feed themselves (and others). For myself, my greatest struggle is in allowing myself to do the things that I enjoy and not feel guilt over it. Therapy helps, intention helps, a Google calendar helps; but, I’m still working on it. It’s a work in progress.” – Class of 2011

“My colleagues understand that I value my time outside of work and they respect that boundary.” Class of MALS 2014

“Being a single mother, it is nearly impossible to ‘balance’ family, a career, friendships/social efforts, and my own personal well-being. Often, some things I do very well, while others take the back seat, and those are ever-shifting. I do my best to care for myself first, then the rest comes from there.” – Class of 2000

“I’ve made a choice to stay home. Considering returning to work and the balance is at forefront of my consideration.” Class of 1992

“I balance it by being ok at a lot of things. Not super mom or super employee, but pretty great at both.” – Class of 2006

“When I first worked, I let work run my life. I learned in the first 10 years that it does not benefit you to do that. What’s the point of work if you can’t enjoy your life?” – Class of 1988

“I recently stopped working in order to focus on my family. Balance has been better achieved. I am glad to be free to the myth of ‘having it all.’” – Class of 2004

“I am careful about what I sign up for. That said, the more involved I am, the less time I spend with my family. Dinner is always tricky with busy teenage daughters. Everyone has a different schedule. Uber has been a lifesaver!” – Class of1990

“There is such a delicate balance. Time is the most precious commodity we have. Giving of myself to my family, my clients, my friends and my community are all important to me. It doesn’t take much to tip the scales on one end or the other. I forget to intentionally carve out time for myself.” – Class of 1980

“Still an ingrained competitive strive for perfectionism, but I have stepped down from high level roles to spend time with my son and that has been worth every second!” – Class of 1992

“I don’t know that I ever balance it. I’ve heard the analogy of work/life being like a see saw, sometimes I go through periods where I focus on one side more but as long as I come back down and make time for the other, I feel balanced overall.” Class of 2006

“It is hard for me to say no, but that’s the only way I don’t over-commit. My motto is work hard and play harder. I also have set specific boundaries for work commitments and volunteer commitments. It is really hard to see my friends.” – Class of 2004

“Over the years, the mental and emotional toll of keeping track of many balls in the air was more punishing than I ever thought it would be. Add an ill parent to raising children, and a woman can nearly lose her career. Oh yes, some leave is now tolerated, but after such an interruption, one is not considered as seriously as before by colleagues or leadership.” – Class of 1980

“I feel like I am doing rather well. I have learned to have patience with myself and let go of perfection.” – Class of 2004

“I work from home one day a week to save on childcare costs. Getting work done with a one-year-old is challenging, and more often than not, I play with my son during the day and do work during his naps and after he goes to bed. The rest of the week, though, I think we have a pretty good balance; I’m able to leave early enough to pick up my son from daycare before 5 p.m. and my family is able to spend our dinnertime and evenings together.” – Class of 2010

Question:Ěý Is balance a goal? Why or why not?

“No, Live life to the fullest. Work more, play more, travel more than others. It’s all about energy and focus.” – Class of 1984

“Balance is definitely a goal for me now. I have given up on finding work that I love enough to make my life; instead I am focusing on making my family, mental health, and personal growth priorities.” – Class of 2005

“Definitely. If only to stop feeling so resentful.” – Class of 2013

“It’s a goal, but so is understanding that there are times in life circumstances make it impossible.” – Class of 1991

“Balance to the point of happiness, not perfection.” – Class of 2006

“The term ‘balance’ is thrown around quite a bit. I would rather look at it as comfortable with your life. Some people love working a great deal, others need the gym once a day. Some love the chaos of home life. You just have to work towards knowing yourself enough to know what works best for you.” – Class of 1986

“Yes. And I am happy with my current choices, imperfect as they are.” – no class year given

“No. I view work as a part of my life, not as a competitor in my life.” – Class of 1981

“I don’t think balance is the right word. It’s more about flexibility and being honest with what you need to be doing when.” – Class of 2000

“I’m not really sure what balance is. I think feeling like I’m reasonably doing the best I can and figuring out which systems need to be put in place to make that happen, is the real goal.” – Class of 2005

Question: What would you tell your 20-year-old-self now about work and life balance?

“Set expectations and norms from the start about your boundaries. Be firm but reasonable.” – Class of 2002

“Just because you can do something alone doesn’t mean you should do something alone. Seek help. Build your village. Allow others to support you and love you. Lean on the people you trust. Learn your boundaries and establish them. GO TO THERAPY. You deserve to be seen and wholly recognized, and you deserve to live a life that’s joyful. Take care of yourself because, in caring for yourself, you care for others.” – Class of 2011

“Work harder and smarter. Worry less. Know you are strong enough to handle life. Always find the silver linings in unwanted news or events. In the early days of your career, it is very important to work long, hard hours. I was a wife at 22, president of a company at 32, mother at 33. Now, at 56, I run three companies, travel, entertain, garden, cook. Most of all, I delegate.” – Class of 1984

“There is no one solution. You will find that life is made of seasons, some where work is focus, others where family is focus and some in between. Just roll with it and do not burn bridges, you never know who you will end up working for or with. And find other women, allies, peers and mentors, and when someone gives you an opportunity, pay it forward.”” – Class of 1997

“Learn what you need and how to ask for it.” – Class of 2013

“Making a plan is great but being resilient when the plan doesn’t work is even more important. Give yourself multiple plan options and take a breath in between when/if one doesn’t work. Develop an adaptive self-care routine and take time to reflect on what matters to you right now and the things that will be important to you in the future as you continue to develop your career.” – Class of 2013

“Think about what it will mean to you down the road. If you choose to have children and work, think about what you may miss with your children. On the flip side, choosing not to work may also affect who you are as a person. And if you want to go back to work once children are older, you need to think about a career that would allow or encourage that. Think about how to involve yourself in your kids activities and maybe that is fulfilling enough or at least gives you some experience to fall back on when re-entering the workforce.” – Class of 1994

“Work and recognition are great, but one does need to balance it with non-work or life experiences too. Work-eat-sleep is not a good pattern. I have been there and done that and would prefer to have more non-work friends and fun times.” – Class of 1982

“I would tell my younger self about self-care and how essential it is to have a healthy and meaningful life. I would also tell my younger self that it’s okay to let some things go. At least in the museum world, most things can wait until the next day or week or month. It’s not life and death.” – Class of 2006

“There is not a one size fits all in any of this. Some people are miserable staying home and miss work, some are miserable not staying home, others MUST (for financial reasons) work and others are able to make a choice. Follow your gut and heart. Some people love working 70 hours a week, others are fine with 10. The only thing that really matters is what works best for you and your situation.” – Class of 1986

“Balance is very important, but it is very difficult. If you aren’t healthy, you can’t take care of others – either mentally or physically. I honestly don’t know how to do it all – all at the same time – well. Being an excellent mother, employee, wife, and contributing member of the community is challenging. What’s frustrating is that my husband never thinks about these things. I think I would tell my 20-year-old self to choose a great partner as a husband, find a great caregiver to help raise your child, and remember to take care of yourself. It takes a village, so make sure to find it!” – Class of 1990

“Don’t underestimate the importance of working for a business with core values that align with your own, as that where the definition of balance will stem from.” – Class of 2005

“Keep perspective on what is possible. Take more risks, don’t be afraid to move into a new direction of work if it brings you more happiness and better work hours.” – Class of 1988

“Never sacrifice your personal needs or your priorities for work. “Work to live”, but never engage in a work culture that expects you to “live to work.” – Class of 2002

“I would tell myself to find work which is meaningful and to work throughout whether it is full time or part time or volunteer. Children are young for such a short time. They grow up and fly off. My work not only provides income but also makes my life more meaningful, with more purpose and direction. I have too many friends who were blindsided by divorce or death of a spouse who never worked and now must fend for themselves. I also have friends who, once their children were gone, have found themselves at a loss for what to do. My mother at 83 is still working and it keeps her young because she loves what she does.” – Class of 1980

“If there is a voice in your head that for example says I should probably do my laundry right now, do the laundry. Don’t listen to voice that tells you to do it tomorrow unless something more important came up. Do it today and leave tomorrow for you.” – Class of 2015

“Balance is not a fixed state, and it is not a one-size-fits-all solution. It (like ambition) changes shape as your life changes. I think it is important to be self-aware — know your strengths, be conscious of your priorities, and continue to advocate for what works best for you. It is also important, if you are going to marry and have a family, to have a partner who is supportive.” – no class given

“Go for it. You probably will anyway and it’s going to be a great ride. Trust In yourself. You got this.” – Class of 1985

“You will reinvent yourself countless times throughout your life, so don’t get overly stressed about work or life or the balance.” – Class of 1992

Sarah Ellerman ’98

The Trump administration invited Sarah Ellerman ’98 and about 30 of her colleagues to the Rose Garden on October 1 of last year to join the president as he announced that negotiations had successfully concluded for the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)—aka, the new NAFTA.

As director of services and investment at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Ellerman spent more than a year hammering out details of the pending free-trade agreement with Mexican and Canadian counterparts.

Ellerman, who majored in international studies at Hollins, specializes in trade issues that impact financial services businesses, such as banks, insurance companies, and electronic payment services. “In the USMCA, I was the colead negotiator for the financial services chapter, which sets the rules in Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. to make sure that [companies from those countries] can all have market access in each other’s markets,” she explains.

The three countries struck the agreement much more quickly than a typical trade agreement, according to Ellerman, who points out that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was negotiated over seven years. “It was a priority for the administration that we get it done fast, which we did,” Ellerman says.

Before taking her current position, Ellerman spent more than a decade working at the U.S. Department of Commerce, including a three-year stint in China, where she managed the Import Administration’s Beijing office. In 2013, Ellerman was selected to serve as a Brookings Institution Legis Congressional Fellow, which resulted in an 18-month assignment in Senator Sherrod Brown’s office researching and developing legislative options on trade.

Even though work on NAFTA 2.0 is complete, Ellerman probably won’t get much time to put her feet up. “We recently notified Congress that we intend to start trade agreement negotiations with the United Kingdom, the European Union, and Japan,” she says. “Then we have a lot of bilateral issues with other countries where they aren’t always abiding by existing trade agreements.”

In October, Ellerman was prepping for work trips to Vietnam and London. On average, she travels internationally about once a month, an aspect of her position she adores. “I don’t have a regional limitation on my portfolio, so I kind of cover the world,” she says.

If given the choice, Ellerman would always travel to another country rather than meet with the nation’s representatives in the United States. “You learn a lot more when you’re on the ground,” she says. “You have a better sense of the issues. Plus, I love to try new food.”

—Beth JoJack ’98

Restoring Dignity

Nessa Ryan ’‘07

Nessa Ryan became passionate about women’s health issues as a Hollins student—so much so that she traveled to Ghana during J-Term of her junior year to study women and HIV awareness.

Ryan went on to earn two master’s degrees: one in public health from Emory University and another in comparative effectiveness research at New York University’s School of Medicine.

Even so, Ryan — like most individuals in the developed world— had never heard of obstetric fistulas. That changed when she went to work as a research coordinator in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the NYU’s School of Medicine in 2012. There she met physician Dr. Joonhee Park, who’d encountered many women who suffer from the injury during a medical mission trip to Liberia.

Obstetric fistulas, Ryan learned from Park, occur when a baby’s head puts pressure on a spot in the mother’s birth canal during extremely prolonged labor. This can cause a hole to form between the bladder and birth canal, which results in the woman leaking urine for the rest of her life, if she’s not lucky enough to receive medical assistance. (Only about two percent of women suffering from the injury ever get access to surgical repair, according to Ryan.)

Industrialized nations have all but eliminated obstetric fistulas due to the availability of Caesarean sections. Poor women with limited resources are the ones who suffer. “The leaking is terrible but it’s really the stigma that’s the burden,” explains Ryan, who double majored in studio art and biology at Hollins, while also completing the Batten Leadership Institute program.

During her time in Liberia, Park had the idea of creating an insertable device that could manage the injury until surgery was an option or if surgery failed. She partnered with Joanna Pozen, a lawyer and public health professor, and Ryan to create a founding team they called Restore Health. The device, made of silicone and resembling a menstrual cup, is called the Restore Cup.

In 2015, the trio won $25,000 in seed money from theĚý 2015 Entrepreneurs Challenge sponsored by NYU Stern’s W. R. Berkley Innovation Labs. They used the money to perform a small trial of the device among women with obstetric fistulas in Ghana the following year. Those participants experienced a 65 percent reduction in urine leakage, with some women experiencing a 99 percent reduction.

Those results were so encouraging that Ryan, who is working on a Ph.D. at New York University’s NYU’s College of Global Public Health, decided to continue research on obstetric fistulas for her dissertation. She traveled to Ghana this last summer to perform qualitative in-depth interviews with 32 women who suffer from the injury.

After finishing her degree, Ryan hopes to continue researching global women’s health and to work in academia. “I’m interested in understanding and addressing the challenges of accessing health care that women and girls experience in the developing world,” she says.

Restore Health plans to do another, larger trial of the Restore Cup in Uganda in 2019.

—Beth JoJack ’98

A psychology major, Nicole Oxendine earned an M.A. in dance and movement therapy from Columbia College in Chicago. Before and after graduate school, she taught at Hillside High School in her hometown, Durham, North Carolina. In 2014 she was named Spectacular Magazine’s Woman of the Year in the emerging leader category. The following year, she founded Empower Dance Studio. Seeing a need to raise funds for dance students who had limited financial resources, she founded Empower Dance Foundation. In 2016 the Durham Business & Professional Chain presented her with its new business award, and in 2017 Empower Dance Studio was a top-four finalist in Independent Weekly Triangle’s best dance studio category.

What part has your psychology major played in your roles as dancer, teacher, small business owner, and fundraiser?
I was fascinated with memory, so my concentration was in cognitive psychology. These interests led to designing units and lessons based on movement memory.ĚýAs a small business owner, I find my psychology major has helped me develop a strong marketing strategy. It also helps me relate better to our customers.

What is movement therapy, and how has that training informed your teaching?
According to the American Dance Therapy Association,Ěýdance/movement therapy and counseling are the “psychotherapeutic uses of movement to further the emotional, cognitive, physical, and social integration of the individual.” For me, it is the perfect combination of dance and psychology, and I have been able to use this training to become a better teacher.

You wereĚýSpectacular Magazine’sĚýWoman of the Year in the emerging leader category. What is good leadership to you?
Good leadership is providing guidance while allowing people to have autonomy in their work and process.ĚýLeaders are not complacent; they are thinking about the next step and the best way to get there.

When and where were you/are youĚýhappiest?
When I am teaching! Especially with children, you must be present and engaged.ĚýSometimes happiness is viewed as what’s going to happen next in life and not enjoying the moment.ĚýChildren enjoy the moment.ĚýI am also happy at the ocean.

Who are your heroes/heroines?
My “sheroes” are women who speak up, get things done, and make change in the world.

What is your favorite music to dance to?
I love acoustic music, anything with great vocals. I love the cello and violin.ĚýAnyone who plays or sings music with heart and passion—I feel it and want to dance with the same passion.

If you could go back and do one thing at Hollins differently, what would it be?
I think everything I did led me to the opportunities I have now.ĚýI wouldn’t change anything.

What would you tell your 18-year-old self?
Your life will be exactly what you envision.ĚýHowever, the path to get there will not be the way you think.ĚýEvery trial and hardship will lead to something great, so be flexible.

Kacee Eddinger believes in intuition.

“You’ve got to think with your head as well as your heart, but I’ve had what I call ‘that good feeling’ a couple of times in my life,” she says.

Eddinger’s inner voice spoke up when she traveled from her home in Colorado Springs to Hollins to get her first look.

“I felt very at home,” Eddinger remembers. “A lot of people talk about the welcoming environment they feel when they walk on campus. I definitely felt that. I just had a feeling that Hollins is where I was meant to be.”

This winter Eddinger interviewed for a job as a youth services librarian for the Montrose Regional Library district in Colorado. She tuned into her subconscious again. It told her to take the position—so she did. “It’s been a dream job for me,” Eddinger says.

From a young age, Eddinger knew she wanted to be a writer. By high school, she was also starting to picture herself working in a library. She put down Wyndham Robertson Library as her top choice for a work-study placement her first year. “It was the first choice for a lot of other people as well,” she says.

Instead, Eddinger ended up working in the physical plant, where she did lots of data entry. “It’s another form of information science,” she says, cheerfully.

In her free time, Eddinger, an English and creative writing major, often headed to the Robertson Library, where she preferred studying in a second-floor carrel that sat across from the graphic novel section. During her junior and senior years, she worked part time as a page at a nearby public library. “I got exposed to a lot of the aspects of public librarianship there.”

After graduation, Eddinger began an online master’s program in library and information science through Kent State University while working at a call center for an insurance company. She graduated in the spring of 2017.

Although she’s only been in her current job for a few months, Eddinger feels confident she’s found the perfect home for her first professional gig. At Montrose, Eddinger develops children’s programming and works on collection development. “I buy lots of picture books,” she says happily.

“I’m really excited I’m sort of at the beginning,” Eddinger says. “I feel like there’s so much more time for me to grow and explore and learn. It’s going to be amazing.”