she has a fire and drive within that has led her to win awards in her profession and a quiet and unassuming manner that puts everyone at ease around her. she's a loyal friend, a thoughtful gift giver, and an incredible teacher. she loves life in all its forms and studied biology in college. she now teaches 7th grade biology. melinda is a woman i greatly admire. she's an incredible photographer and the photos with post were taken by her or her husband. thank you melinda for being a part of the sunday spotlight. i love you.
How and in what do you find value in your life?Experiences and Food. I'd rather spend a weekend doing something sensory like going out into nature with my camera than going shopping. I enjoy a good, well prepared meal! I also highly value my family and try to visit them whenever possible (both sides of our family live out of state). We try to prioritize our families above all else and will often sacrifice time that might be used for personal vacations to visit them. I've been wanting to travel abroad more, but I realize that my memories with my family members will be more precious to me than running around Tokyo or the Scottish moors without them. Traveling is still a goal and we will fit in these trips one day, but family first!
Who are women you admire and why?
Often times I've found that the women I truly admire and want to be like are those that are most excited and passionate about what they do. Sure I like to read about the business accomplishments of Jenna Lyons and speak about great women scientists like Rosalind Franklin and Jane Goodall, but I've learned that strong and intelligent women don't have to be measured by the traditional scales of education or job titles.
The woman I admire the most is my own mother. I, like many of us, have come to gain a greater understanding of the sacrifices that she made to raise my family as I've gotten older. My mother loved being a mother. She grew up in an immigrant shanty town on the island of Maui, but worked hard to get a college degree. After college, my mother really wanted to fully experience motherhood and decided to stay at home. She used that college degree though! She taught us well and transferred her love of knowledge and pursuit of academic excellence to all of her children. She instilled in us a love of books, cultures, and good music. She's probably one of the only mothers I know of that see's all the indie films and documentaries before I or my friends do! She also helped us look for intellectual role models by praising those who succeeded academically and talking about college with us at an early age. My mother also steered us toward spiritual role models and often quoted church leaders or had their pictures up in our home. She would speak effusively about people who were kind and had good character and made sure that we took note.
What are your current goals? Long and/or short term. How did you decide upon those goals?
My main short and long term goal is to teach, whether it be in the classroom (I'm a science teacher) or in the home. When you teach and prepare to teach, you are constantly learning, so I supposed that's my tandem goal.
When are you your most authentic self?
I feel like I'm my most authentic self when I'm around teenagers. John teases me and says I have a Salinger complex, but I swear it's not that! I think I might have control issues from being in the class room so much and derive evil pleasure from being the one directing all discussions. But really I just love interacting with teenagers. If I'm at a gathering and there are a lot of people I don't know, I'll often gravitate to the youth in the room if they're present. I know how to talk to them, what questions to ask, and I like to listen to what's going on in their lives. I'm fascinated by their observations and insights about people which often cause me to pause and reflect more deeply upon my own character. Another thing about teenagers is that they're used to being ignored by adults so if you're sincere and don't talk down to them as children, they will respond enthusiastically. They are passionate, and in my experience, usually motivated by pure intentions that are untainted by heavy bias. I also like chatting with youth about the trivial parts of life: what the groups are like at school, what's currently "in", what movies and music they're into, and what they do for fun. There's also a possibility that I enjoy being to be able to direct their inchoate minds with some of my own thoughts ("you should check out the Pixies!"), but mostly I like to listen to them. Since I do not have children of my own yet, I feel I have a different view of teenagers than a lot of mothers. While it's a stage that most parents dread, it's the one I actually look forward to the most when I have my own children one day.
What are your feelings about motherhood? (This includes feelings about your own mother, mothers you see around you, how you feel about being a mother now or in the future).
As mentioned above, I do not have children of my own yet. I have been undergoing constant infertility treatments for the past 5 years and while it started out as a very emotionally complex and difficult experience, I feel it has made me stronger, more empathetic, and enhanced my respect and understanding of motherhood. I see young mothers with their children and am constantly amazed by their creativity and energy. I don't know what reserves they're pulling from but I hope to be like them one day. This period of time without children has allowed me to teach for longer than I originally anticipated. It was been a wonderful opportunity to learn from experienced mothers and see what they do to raise socially and academically successful kids. One thing I feel strongly about is that a big part of motherhood is being a good teacher and imbuing your children with a love of learning . A mother needs to know how to get down to the level of her children to communicate with them and also know how to break down large concepts to better explain them.
She's amazing. Her blog is one of my favorites. And her photos are beautiful.
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