During my career at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC), I have been fortunate to have worked in several exciting non-technical business-related jobs. Currently, I am a Support Services Specialist in the Office of Logistics Management. My job is to enhance the quality of life for the employees at the center. I ensure that our Transportation and Management Services (T&MS) team provides items such as vehicles and office equipment (i.e., furniture, office copiers, carpeting, etc.), which provide a comfortable and productive working environment for our employees.

Our T&MS team is also responsible for protecting LaRC valuable records and delivering the mail throughout our center each day. Another significant responsibility that we have is to ensure that the management policies and guidelines [for what??? to obtain services - safety issues, to what end are they important??] are current, readily available, and easy to understand by our employees.

In 1976, after completed a B.S. degree in Secretarial Science, I started to work at NASA Langley as a Secretary. Three years later, I competed for and was selected as a Contract Specialist. In that job I negotiated Research and Development (R&D) contracts and served as a Contracting Officer on several contracts. This job allowed me to help research engineers acquire support contractor work for their projects.

For many years I have aspired to be a supervisor. I decided to pursue my goal by obtaining a Masters Degree in Public Administration. Meanwhile, I participated as an Intern for two year in the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Presidential Management Intern Program. Consequentially, I was able to complete three-month rotational assignments at NASA Langley's Projects Office, Personnel Division, and Programs and Resources Division, respectively. I also spent two weeks at NASA Headquarters and learn about each of our ten Center's organizations. I had worked as a Contract Specialist for a total of ten years.

My dream of becoming a supervisor finally came true when I was selected as the Head of the Equipment Management Section. I was the section's Inventory Management Specialist. This organization was responsible for controlling government property by managing all loans of Government equipment to private industry, other Government agencies, other NASA Centers, and/or NASA civil servant or contractor employees.

Later on, I became the Head of the Institutional Support Branch and my job has expanded to include the responsibilities that I have today. However, I am not finished yet! I'm back in school and I hope to update you about my progress in the future.

Outside of NASA, I love to help others learn the things that I know, so I have used my passion to teach by serving as a Crusader in my church as well as by working as an adjunct Professor at Thomas Nelson Community College, and at Hampton University. I also enjoy doing fun things like playing word games such as Scrabble and other family games, learning new things about my computer, and doing a little bit of roller skating from time to time.

My advice to you is to prepare in advance to do those things that you really want to do in the future, and be ready when your opportunity comes. I once heard someone say, "Don't let opportunity come knocking on your door and you have to say…Wait a minute I have to go pack my luggage." I'm ready for my next opportunity… are you ready for yours?