| Blair adds that Jennings continues
to challenge herself through education wanting
to make a better life for herself and her family.
“Neatha is single, but she lives with,
cares for, and helps support her disabled mother,
Carolyn, and takes care of several young children
who are her relatives.”
Raised in what Jennings described as an underprivileged
background, she learned the hardships of work
and life at a young age. “My mother cared
for us on just $400 a month,” she said.
“I cannot change the way I was raised,
but I can change the future. What choice do
I have? I don’t want to be a statistic
like everyone expects. I want to break the cycle.”
She is not quite sure what she wants to do
yet with her degree in Spanish, but she knows
it will be some kind of work in interpreting
and/or translating. The reserved young woman
becomes animated when discussing her Spanish
studies. “That is my only creative outlet,”
she explains. She adds that through her instructors,
she is able to express herself. “Many
people don’t understand me or where I
come from, they seem to understand me,”
she says of Jill Gauthier at the Hamilton campus
and Tracie Munoz of the Oxford campus. “They
are really down-to-earth.”
She also enjoys working for Blair and Vince
Richardson, the director of Miami Hamilton’s
Athletic Department. “They are down-to-earth,
sociable and kind.”
Jennings is one of 30 Miami students who will
receive the award and the only student from
Miami Hamilton. Students are nominated for exemplary
service as a university employee, in campus
life, as a leader in cultural and intellectual
areas, or for community service. |
