Natalie Berrios Courtney Book Joel Burch Estela Clemente Alyssa Davidson Staci Dillie Rebecca Dixon Tri Duong Rachel Dye Cameron Freeman Melinda Johnson Yoon-Jung Lee IT'S A BALANCING ACT N ekia Shelton, 32, was a hard worker and an excellent student who fought every day to balance her professional and family life. Shelton took graduate classes, worked 20 hours in the Writing Lab and taught for eight hours every week, while taking care of her 6-year-old daughter Cameron. "She is just a fighter she wants so badly to finish school and to be successful for her and her daughter," Kimberly Myers, director of the patient skills center, said. "Honestly, I'm not exactly sure how she does it. She does it by the grace of God, really." For Shelton, a normal day started at 3:45a.m. when she woke up and started homework. Then, she prepared breakfast and got her daughter ready for school. After taking her daughter to school, she continued with homework and got details ready to teach a class at noon. She worked in the Writing Lab at 11 a.m. and also from 1-4 p.m. After that, she picked up Cameron, fixed dinner, and did homework with her. Then she attended a class from 7-9 p.m. Finally, the day ended when she returned home, put her daughter to bed and completed more homework. "She is very responsible, and she is what I will call a self-starter," Ken Hammes, professor of English and director of the Writing Center. "I don't have to tell her, you know, 'Be sure and do this and be sure do that.' She can look around and see what needs to be done. She is the 184 I People Mother and graduate student, Nekia Shelton, keeps her priorites in line while going to school perfect kind of person to have working." Myers described Shelton as a lovely mother, and Hammes described her as a great worker. Shelton also excelled in her graduate courses. Although Shelton did not sleep much, she was determined to succeed and to secure a better future for herself and her daughter. She was an energetic person, despite the fact that she was busy, and she enjoyed devoting her free time to her daughter. "I don't really do much else or play games with my daughter," Shelton said. "She likes to swing, or we take walks, but usually if I can have a moment of quiet time, I like to read something that is not school related." As a child, Shelton liked to read books during the weekends and considered it a contest to read as much as possible. That love for reading allowed her to complete her undergraduate studies as an English major and her graduate studies in education. Hammes, her former professor, described her as good writer, who wrote with details and was well-organized. Shelton planned to graduate July 2013. She knew that pursuing a master's degree would be a difficult task but would be worth every effort put in it because the degree would allow her to better support herself and her daughter. Henry Gonzalez
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