Holly Neibauer:
CLASS OF 1988
Northeast High SchoolClass of 1988
Philadelphia, PA
Holly's Story
My life really began when I met my husband David in high school. We've been together now for more than twenty years and we have two beautiful six-year-old daughters. David is a high school chemistry teacher, and I now have two careers. I teach English Composition, Honors English and other Honors courses at Arcadia University (formerly Beaver College); plus, I do ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) therapy with children on the Autism spectrum under the age of three. I became interested in this after one of my daughters was diagnosed with Autism in 2004 at the age of two.
I've got to be honest; I absolutely hated high school. It ain't easy being an overweight teen, going through your first major crush, and having no interest in academics. Luckily, time away from education and time to mature does wonders.
I went back to college after trying just out of high school and found my first "A" to be a rather potent addiction. I left CCP after a couple of years with a 3.9, then moved on to Beaver College where I earned departmental honors as an undergraduate and earned my Master's with distinction. On the day of my undergraduate commencement ceremony, my Department Chair asked me to interview the following week. I've been there ever since and, a year ago, I won the Adjunct Faculty of the Year award. I was pretty proud.
Since I started teaching, aside from the obvious goals related to English, I've tried to make our first-year students feel welcome on campus and help them adjust to their new lives as college students, always keeping in mind that many leave high school (a...Expand for more
s I did) with fragile self-esteem. As a result, I've formed many valuable and rewarding relationships with my students that have continued beyond their graduations.
I've also worked with my students to do charitable work of which I'm quite proud. We raised more than $2400 for Children's Hospital's Oncology unit, more than $8000 for Autism Speaks, more than $5000 for breast cancer research, and donated more than $8000 to Philadelphia's H.E.A.R.T. program, the city's Autism program for children between the ages of 3 and 5 (my daughter's program).
Education has played two polar opposite roles in my life: in high school it locked me away within myself; in college, it brought me out.
By far, though, the best thing I've done with my life, though, is become a mother. Both of my daughters have disabilities (Autism, partial deafness), but both have also made miraculous strides and each has earned a place in a typical classroom. They're my miracle children on many levels.
What else is there to say? My best friend from my childhood remains so, and with my other best friend whom I met the year I got engaged, we have a tight sisterhood that I like to call "my oxygen." I realized, perhaps later in life than I would've liked, that one does not need a million "friends" but rather one or two real friends.
Future goals include continuing to improve upon my teaching, an imminent promotion in my Autism therapy work, publishing my writing, continuing to raise my "baby ladies," as I like to call them, and also continuing to add years to my marriage.
It's a good, good life. :)
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