I Was Glad to Leave the Stage Behind
When Jodi Bennett-Bradshaw entered UNCG in the fall of 2004, she was a retiring actress and singer, a wife, the mother of a 2 year old daughter, and a 40 year old first-time freshman. She never imagined that she would go to college, having spent the last decade of her life touring the U. S. as a professional performer. But the instability of the showbiz life motivated her to pursue her college degree. “I was glad to leave the stage behind,” she says.
Jodi chose UNCG for a variety of reasons. Her husband, as well as her mother in-law, were both alums and had always spoken highly of their experiences at UNCG. But the clincher was the warm welcome she received from The Office for Adult Students, especially at OAS’s “Get Set Saturday,” a program held each semester on the Saturday before the beginning of class. She particularly recalls a helpful workshop which introduced UNCG’s computing systems and also a conversation with a panel of veteran adult students, moderated by the Dean of Students. “Set” for nothing short of success, she was on her way!
She immediately changed her major
When Jodi was admitted to UNCG, she had every intention of majoring in Classical Studies to explore a long-term interest in ancient Egypt. However, one semester later she took ATY 253, “Introduction to Physical Anthropology,” and she was hooked. She immediately changed her major to Anthropology. Since she had to take a foreign language for that major, she decided that she might as well add a minor in French while she was at it. She was familiar with Cajun French from living 14 years in Louisiana, and she had a further affinity for French because the French Resistance rescued her grandfather after he was shot down near Paris during World War II.
Although life as a wife, mother and fulltime student keeps her schedule packed tight, Jodi has held several offices in the Student Anthropological Society: secretary in 2005, treasurer in 2006 and president in 2007. She was chosen to be a member of the Student’s Advisory Committee to the Provost, and was also hand-picked in 2005 by Dr. M. K. Sandford to be her teaching assistant in the physical anthropology lab. She was the first freshman ever to serve in this capacity and she continues this job at present.
Jodi has also been hired as a program assistant for the Office for Adult Students. She hosts OAS get-togethers for adult students, such as “Lunch Live” and evening coffees. She especially enjoys this job because of the opportunity to interact with other adult students in the UNCG community.
Jodi’s out of class activities have not diminished her diligence as a student: she has made the Dean’s and Chancellor’s lists every semester. In Fall 2007, Jodi was selected as one of twenty undergraduate students to be inducted into The Golden Chain, a campus honorary recognizing leadership, service, scholarship, tolerance, magnanimity, judgment and character.
“Without Matty, going to college would be impossible.”
Jodi credits her husband Matthew for his strong, unwavering support. Jodi says “Without Matty, going to college would be impossible.” Matthew does a lot to keep the house running, as well as working two other jobs; and Bronwen, their five year old, helps her Mommy and Daddy by picking up her toys, doing her homework, and “just being adorable.”
“My extended family is also very supportive,” Jodi says. “Matthew’s parents, Nanna and Pops will drive for two hours just to take Bronwen to the movies, or some other fun outing, so that I can have some quiet time to study. My mom lives in Arkansas, but she’s always there when I call. I’m the first in my family to go to college, and everyone has been very encouraging.”
In summer 2008, Jodi plans to gain valuable research experience through a program in Mexico where she will work with a mentor professor to do skeletal analysis at a site dating from 300 B.C.E. to 300 A.D. She is applying for funding to support this trip from the Office of Undergraduate Research at UNCG.
Jodi will graduate in May, 2009. She will take a somewhat lighter load her last year in order to prepare for the GRE and apply to graduate schools. She is in the process of identifying graduate programs in Anthropology where she can pursue a Ph.D. in areas of her interests: human osteology, paleopathology, human evolution, and forensic anthropology.
Jodi believes that everything you do and study will come around full circle. One of her dreams is to someday have a vacation house in France, preferably close to a Neanderthal archaeological site!
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Page updated: 06-May-2009
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