Jill Nussel

Jill Schaarschmidt Nussel was in and out of college a number of times. I quit to get married and start a family, went back, quit again while my husband was in grad school, went back, quit again to have another baby, buy a bigger house, and on and on. The Catharine S. Eberly Center for Women barely existed back then and I thought it was just for divorced women. What kept me going in school were my children. How could I tell them to strive for the stars when their own mother was capable of so much more but lacked the education for my own reach. After finally graduating, I made it my mission to do what I could to empower others. Working for the YWCA, I felt my calling was in education and I left a career in public relations to start graduate school at UT age 42. My husband of all these years has been my biggest supporter. I'll have a doctorate in history in 2006. The diploma is nice but teaching and mentoring others who's shoes I have walked many miles in has been priceless. As for my children, they're college graduates now and pursuing their own stars.