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time atTCU taught her the valueof continued learning, goal settingand
reaching for the stars. “My professors within the nursing department
instilled the value of a curious mind and attention to detail. I love TCU
and happily moved back to Fort Worth this past December with my
cute hubby and baby girl (born April 29, 2011).
LeslieHarmonSmith ’02
, a certifiedplastic surgerynurse, was recently
named director of Clinical and Surgical Services at the Cosmetic
Surgery Center in Little Rock, Ark. Leslie completed the opening of a
state-of-the-art outpatient surgical suite at this facility.
Randy Quinn ’05 (MSNA ’09)
was appointed to the Arizona
State Board of Nursing in January 2011 and was recently elected
president. He hopes to help enact some true changes for Arizona’s
nurse anesthetists.
VanessaMonroe (MSN ’07)
is currently a clinical assistant professor at
Prairie View A&M University.
Samantha Rutledge ’07
recently started a new job at Southwest
Transplant Alliance as an organ recovery coordinator. She previously
served as a critical care RN at SetonMedical Center in Austin. Samantha
is very excited to start this new job.
Joy Borjes ’08
earned a Master of Social Work degree from the
University of Washington in Seattle, where she emphasized public
policy and community organizing. She was hired at the Family Abuse
Center in Waco, where she provided counseling and legal advocacy
to victims of domestic violence in six Central Texas counties. For her
work there, she was honored by the Texas Young Lawyers Association
as the 2010 recipient of the Liberty Bell Award – the only award given
to a non-lawyer who works to promote justice. During the 82nd
legislative session, she worked as a legislative aide in the Texas House
of Representatives for Rep. Eddie Lucio III of Brownsville on issues such
as providing stronger legal protections for stalking victims, better
access to resources for former foster youth and higher accountability
for persons charged with animal cruelty, among others.
When the session ended, Joy accepted a position as a public policy
analyst at the Texas Council on Family Violence. In her current role,
she engages in legislative advocacy on behalf of domestic violence
victims and service providers for better laws regarding domestic
violence. Joy also provides training and technical assistance to
survivors, providers and communities across the state of Texas.
Ashley Hicks ’08
earned a MSW in 2009 from the University of
Nevada at Las Vegas. The first day of Dr. Linda Moore’s Introduction
to Social Work course changed Ashley’s life, and she changed her
major to Social Work that very day. She writes, “I did not know social
work existed before I began my college experience. Now, I could not
imagine working in any other field.”Ashley is a licensedMaster in Social
Work and one of the only individual school social workers in the state
of Nevada. She works at Odyssey Charter Schools, a hybrid model
charter school that combines distance education with face-to-face
teaching. She was the first social worker at the school and created the
position. She serves more than 1,500 students, most of who are at risk
of not graduating from high school due to their demographic profile.
“Each year, more students enroll and more students graduate, and I
could not be more proud to be a part of that. My TCU degree impacts
me daily; the knowledge I gained, the experience from my internship
and professors and the other students are valuable parts that make
up the social worker I am today. Not to mention, I am proud to be a
Horned Frog, and my pennants are the main attraction in my office!”
Chris Gillett ’09
(psychosocial kinesiology) moved back to Wake
Forest, N.C., after graduation. He is currently working as a medical
courier delivering transplant organs to area hospitals. He is beginning
the Master of Social Work program at North Carolina State University
this summer and hopes to eventually work with fellow veterans in a
veterans’ hospital.
2010s
Holly Buechner ’11
is currently working toward a master’s degree
in speech-language pathology at the University of Redlands in
Redlands, Calif. She writes, “While it has been a great challenge and
wonderful experience to study in California, I couldn’t even imagine
being successful without the preparation and guidance I received at
TCU. I have found my knowledge from my undergraduate career to
be exceedingly helpful in my graduate studies. I am also grateful for
the support of the faculty and staff at TCU who have helped guide me
along the way. I formed meaningful relationships with my professors
and peers, and those relationships are still important to me today. TCU
has prepared me not only for my graduate work, but for my career as
well. Thank you, TCU!
Kristen Royce Hughes ’11
is currently living in Denver, Colo., and
is working at Swedish Medical Center as Registered Nurse on the
Progressive Care Unit.
Outstanding Alumni Awards
2011-2012
Outstanding
Social
Work Alumnus - Brian
Glenn ’89
was recently
honored as the Outstanding
Social Work Alumnus. He is a
program expert in the Center
for Disability in the Dallas
office of the Social Security
Administration,
but
his
varied background includes
work with the North Central
Texas Epilepsy Association in
Fort Worth, the AIDS Outreach Center in Fort Worth, and the Disability
Determination Services in Austin.
Brian is fluent in Melanesian Tok Pisin, a language he learned while
serving in the Peace Corps in the late 1990s. He and his wife, Fran
Huckaby, faculty member in TCU’s College of Education, served in
the Peace Corps for a little more than two years on the island nation
of Papua New Guinea, located in the South Pacific near Australia,
where they worked as rural community development facilitators in
six villages.
Glenn says, “A large part of being a Peace Corps Volunteer involves
sitting and listening and sharing stories. It’s all about cultural exchange
and not imposing your American views on another culture.”
Brian credits five women who helped him along the way, each with a
TCU connection:
Brian Glenn ’89, Christie Glenn ’84 (MS ’92),
Linda Moore, David Jenkins & Paulette Burns
ALUMNI
The Harris College Magazine
- Summer 2012 ·
33