Q&A with HDFS Alumni Advisory Board Members

Carla Higley Holeva, Director of Development for the ACLU of Texas

What is one of your best Human Development and Family Sciences memories?

It has to be the friendships I made. So many of them are still in my circle! Also, I'd have to mention the late afternoon conversations in Dr. Pinder's office. It was a gathering place for so many of us. He always had an open door!

Where has life taken you since you graduated from Texas Tech University?

I've stayed in non-profit work and I'm thankful I did. I find it rewarding and it speaks to who I am. On a personal level, after graduation, I married another Red Raider, moved to Midland (we're still here), and raised an amazing daughter who is also a TTU grad. I love coming back to Texas Tech for games and homecoming!

How did the Texas Tech HDFS program prepare you for your career?

I was blessed to have a great practicum - in fact, it led me to my first job. My practicum supervisor was an amazing reference for me! My degree opened my mind and doors to a bigger picture of what I wanted to do with my life. I use so many of the tools I learned in HDFS in my work today. I often laugh, working with donors is just about building healthy relationships! I also think our degree has so much versatility to it. Think outside the box with it!

 

Sharon Hyde Bass, Executive Director of the Volunteer Center of Lubbock

What is one of your best Human Development and Family Sciences memories?

Taking part in the series of skills-based group training we did on parenting, conflict resolution, and communication with TTU students, staff, faculty, and the Lubbock community as a whole. And my thesis experience exploring parental influences in the development of humor in young children.

Where has life taken you since you graduated from Texas Tech University?

I was teaching elementary school when I started working on my master's as a way of doing required continuing education. I loved the classes, faculty, and my fellow students and decided to finish. By the time I got my master's I had retired from teaching, was a full-time parent of two little guys, and was involved in the community as a volunteer. I did a variety of short-term employment opportunities including serving as director of religious education at my church, helping start-up and manage a new OBGYN's practice, as well as lots of volunteer engagement. I began working part-time at the Volunteer Center of Lubbock in 1995 and became Executive Director in 2003. We exist to inspire a more engaged community by helping people find their purpose and act on it. Every day I feel blessed to serve with our team as we provide impactful engagement opportunities for more than 49,000 people throughout the South Plains.

How did the Texas Tech HDFS program prepare you for your career?

I learned how to design programs that helped people build stronger relationships. People aren't born knowing how to be a better parent or family member or employee or member of the community, but HDFS offers a path for understanding ourselves and how we engage with other people throughout the systems we are a part of. I was a better mom and a better volunteer and a more knowledgeable leader because of my experiences with TTU HDFS.

 

Keith Patrick, Director of Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Frenship ISD

What is one of your best Human Development and Family Sciences memories?

I have a ton of fun memories from the Goin'Band from Raiderland, from my time in Kappa Chi, and from spending countless hours with friends, but in HDFS, it was professors and classes that meant so much to me and that have continued to linger in my memory. From Dr. Carl Andersen taking me to work cattle and giving me some direction to Dr. Rhonda Eade's honest and open conversations about her own life and there are plenty more. But in particular, Dr. Gary Schwantz's Senior Seminar was a turning point for me in my late college career. Dr. Schwantz provided a guidepost for me when I desperately needed one, as well as a level of understanding I needed. I missed more than a month of school in 2005 to help manage Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita Relief Shelters in Lubbock. I made the mistake of not telling anyone and just disappearing and in coming back, was forced to drop a course and try to catch up. Dr. Schwantz saw where my heart was and allowed me to make up some work, and, ultimately, I was his TA during the following semester. He invested in all of his students in a unique way, especially for a large class. I really took a lot of lessons away from his course - lessons that gave me the freedom to relax, to find my own path, and to realistically look at the world and what I was planning to do. Those lessons were extremely impactful and gave direction to many of us sitting in his classroom. 

Where has life taken you since you graduated from Texas Tech University?

After changing my major from music education to HDFS in Spring 2002, I was already a little bit behind. I'd already added a minor in ADRS and got involved with Equine Assisted Therapy. I also decided to add a minor in Animal Science and an Equine Science Certificate to my degree. I finished all of that in May 2007 and then graduated. While it's easy to compare our own journey to those around us, in reality, there's no one true path anyone is supposed to follow. I wouldn't trade my experience and the lessons learned at Texas Tech for anything, even if I ended up staying around a little bit longer than others. Due to following my heart and interests, I walked straight into graduate school in Animal Science and ultimately completed my master's in Agricultural Communications in 2012. I never really identified in college exactly what it was I wanted to do, but I did begin to understand what it was I enjoyed and what I was good at. I've worked on Capitol Hill during graduate school, in human services as a Child & Adolescent Case Manager, fundraising for the American Cancer Society, for Texas Tech on more than one occasion. I came to Frenship ISD six years ago to build new programs and focuses, and my role has morphed into a community connector and liaison. I build partnerships, implement new programs, and seek grant funding for our district of more than 10,000 students. I work to be the front door to our district, a place for potential partners to connect with us, and to build relationships that benefit our students and teachers. I also have the pleasure of managing athletic communications and calling live sports on the radio and our streaming platform, Frenship TV. I enjoy what I do immensely and find great personal gratification in the work. I manage Frenship's additive feeding programs that assist in providing food security weekly, during the summer, and over holidays. During the 2020 shutdown, I was tasked with leading that effort through a large team of district personnel, Aramark staff, and community volunteers. Frenship provided almost 290,000 meals to our community, including delivering 17,000 to their doorsteps. That's the kind of impact that keeps me going every day, and I have HDFS at Texas Tech to thank for planting those seeds of service in my education to lead me to this point.

How did the Texas Tech HDFS program prepare you for your career?

I came to Texas Tech with a plan to become a band director and found myself loving my time in the Goin'Band From Raiderland but not much else a music degree required. I'd considered other majors, but walking into Human Sciences for the first time it felt like I'd come home. HDFS provided me a place to find what I was passionate about and the freedom to explore and understand the intricacies of relationships in our lives. The true power of HDFS is in its broad application. Through all of my career experiences, and in my current role at Frenship ISD, I have continued to apply the lessons I learned in HDFS to my career and life. My network, ability to build relationships, consensus and programs, and passionate belief in my mission are all skills borne in my time there. In every role I've held I've relied heavily on my personal connection to the story I'm telling or the organization I'm supporting. Passion for people is the underlying principle of HDFS and that is something that has carried me throughout my career. I don't sell products, I seek support for what I believe in because I believe deeply in people and the missions of the organizations I have served. That started for me in HDFS and I'm where I am today because of it.

 

Ashley Reinhardt, M.Ed.Founder and Director of WonderWell in Austin, Texas

What is one of your best Human Development and Family Sciences memories?

Watching the excitement of the Texas Tech Child Development and Research Center lab children playing outside on the playground near the Human Sciences building and realizing Raider Red was stopping by to visit THEM!

Where has life taken you since you graduated from Texas Tech University?

After earning my Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Texas Tech University in 2008, I taught Kindergarten in Spring Branch ISD and fell in love all over again. After three years of teaching, I pursued my graduate degree at The University of Texas at Austin and earned my Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction. I discovered a new passion during my graduate coursework: teaching teachers. I enjoyed serving pre-service teachers at The University of Texas at Austin as both a Faculty Specialist and Student-Teacher Facilitator. In September 2013, I became a mother to our wonderful son, Jet, who would eventually inspire me to build the best school there is and change the world! My dad and I acquired the land that WonderWell now calls home in September 2015, submitted our Site Plan Permit Application to the City of Austin in December 2015, received our permit to begin construction in October 2016, and ultimately broke ground in November 2016. On January 3, 2018, WonderWell's very first Imagineers walked through the front doors! This spring marks our fourth year of teaching and learning at WonderWell. Our three-year-old daughter, Saylor, now attends WonderWell, and our one-year-old son, Hank, will begin in August 2021! My husband often jokes that I am the most devout Red Raider in Austin, Texas (especially during basketball season)!

How did the Texas Tech HDFS program prepare you for your career?

Our program prepared me in many ways. Through my coursework and experience as a lab student at the Texas Tech Child Development and Research Center, my understanding of "the why" behind "the how" children interact and play evolved. Learning about a young child's developing brain has ultimately helped me design an experience that helps young children build a solid foundation for future learning and success.