Melanie Harper:
CLASS OF 1989
West Carteret High SchoolClass of 1989
Morehead city, NC
Indiana UniversityClass of 1997
Bloomington, IN
Indiana UniversityClass of 1993
Bloomington, IN
Morehead City Middle SchoolClass of 1985
Morehead city, NC
Camp Glen Elementary SchoolClass of 1982
Morehead city, NC
Melanie's Story
Life
My husband, our son, and I live outside Atlanta. After WCHS, I spent 8 years at Indiana University for undergrad and grad work. It's too cold there, so I dragged Doug south in 1997. I worked for Intellinex doing web design, sales, and technology and learning consulting until after our son was born in 2003. I spent some time as a freelance learning and web designer, and then went full time again for Xerox Learning (now Conduent) and GP Strategies until 2019. I changed careers in 2019 to work in behavioral analysis and therapy, getting credentialed as a Registered Behavior Technician, and completing my coursework in behavioral analysis. I now work with children on the autism spectrum in a local clinic, and it’s wonderful!
Bobby is a wonderful, adorable teen and the apple of his grandparents' eyes. He's flourishing in our county's autism specialty program, and is becoming known for his talents in music.
School
School? Wow. When you live all your school life in one place, it all kind of runs together.
In general, I remember elementary and middle school as pretty rough, mostly because I was non-athletic, didn't wear name-brand clothes and was a major geek :) Luckily, I had a few consistent close friends like Katie Cooper and Kevyn Creech. Kev and I are "aunties" to each other's kids.
Life got much better in high school, where academics started to matter to more people and I grew up and learned how to fit in. I learned that foreign languages were my strength but that math never would be. What's funny is that I was diagnosed in college with a learning disability in math. Who knew that I hated math for a honest reason? Also in high school, computers became more and more prevalent, and I loved that since those silicon boxes just made sense to me. And computers became a great career for me - I guess there's a lot to be said for timing! Good friends in high school included Kevyn Creech, Jenny Roy, Deanna Tesreau, Melissa Taylor, Pam Johnson, Lynn Howard, Alicia Edwards, Kelli Osborne, Wendi Edgerton, Larry Stover, and...wow, my memory is shot! I know I'm forgetting...Expand for more
some folks from "the zoo crew". I had friends in band, too, but I just couldn't give up my summer to sweat on the asphalt. Too bad we couldn't have a separate orchestra! Jazz band was great, though.
Mrs. Davis, Ms. McCann, Mr. Whitaker, Mr. McBride, Mrs. Nagle and Mrs. Gregson were favorite teachers, mostly because they demanded that I get over being lazy and actually think a little (or a lot). I really liked my 3rd year Spanish teacher, but I can't remember her name! Sorry. I still speak French and Spanish, and went on to pick up some Russian and a little Welsh and Italian in college.
The 10 year class reunion in 1999 (right after Hurricane Floyd) was quite (surprisingly) enjoyable. The 20th and 30th were also great fun!
College
I went to Indiana University - Bloomington 1989-1993 on scholarship for a bachelor's in French, Spanish and Gifted Education. One of the highlights of those 4 years was serving the local community as a part of Alpha Phi Omega, a national co-ed volunteer service fraternity. I also spent a semester in France, studying, traveling and teaching English. After getting married in '94, I went back for a double Master's from IU-B (1994-1997) in Instructional Systems Technology (corporate training) and Information Science (databases/website mgmt, etc.) I finished coursework from Arizona State University in behavior analysis in 2018, and an now doing required clinical hours for further national credentialing.
Workplace
I worked for Intellinex/Ernst & Young from 1997 through 2003, when I left to be a full-time mom. I was primarily an instructional designer, but I also served as the Intellinex webmaster and a technical sales specialist. I spent some time as a freelance learning and web designer, and then went full time again for Xerox Learning (now Conduent) and GP Strategies until 2019. I changed careers in 2019 to work in behavioral analysis and therapy, getting credentialed as a Registered Behavior Technician, and completing my coursework in behavioral analysis. I now work with children on the autism spectrum in a local clinic, and it’s wonderful!
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Yearbooks
Reunions
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Photos
