NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — One thing in our lives we are all guaranteed is change. One middle Tennessee woman not only meets it head on but embraces it.
Michele's story starts in Philly. She graduated high school in 1986.
Her goal was to work in television at CBS Sunday Morning.
Her next step was college.
"I got into Temple, their radio television, and film program. It was my dream," Niec said.
Temple turned out to be a bit much for Michele, but in 1986 her path hit a curve, with a form of Muscular Dystrophy called Myasthenia gravis.
"It's actually called the snowflake disease," Niec said.
According to Mayo Clinic, "causes muscles under your voluntary control to feel weak and get tired quickly. This happens when the communication between nerves and muscles breaks down".
After leaving Temple, she went to Montgomery County Community College and then jumped to Cabrini College.
"I had probably about 12 credits left and I was offered a job that would change my life," she said.
It was getting to work in the world of TV at QVC. She said from there her career kept going and school went off to the side.
Another part of Michele's story is her unexpected billiard skills. It is something she kept up with a move to Denver and from Denver to Tennessee.
To see her talent with a pool cue and to see how high she placed in college watch the video above!
If you flip through her five page resume, you will see how she seems to constantly try new things and reinvents herself.
"I just like to try things and there's a little bit of confidence, like I can do that," Niec said.
That confidence took her back to school, through Tennessee Reconnect.
"Tennessee Reconnect is an initiative to help more adults return to higher education to gain new skills, advance in the workplace, and fulfill lifelong dreams of completing a degree or credential," their website said.
She got her associate's degree at Volunteer State Community College. She then followed her son's footsteps to Tennessee Tech where she got her Bachelor's degree. She is now working on her Master's Degree.
"I will finish that this summer and then I applied, fingers crossed, to start the Ph.D. program here," Niec said.
Hopefully adding another line to her ever-expanding resume and life.
Rhori recommends:
“Here’s another example of a small non-profit doing so much good in our community! Forrest Sanders highlights the group Friends Life Community, which provides adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities a chance to express themselves through art. In this case, original stage performances! Registered drama therapist Sarah Edwards guides the performers, including Mary Margaret, as they express themselves through written words and dance movements. The original show is touring and have a date set this September at TPAC!”
-Rhori Johnston
