Melissa Biggy:
CLASS OF 1990
Hinton High SchoolClass of 1990
Hinton, WV
College of West VirginiaClass of 1996
Beckley, WV
Concord CollegeClass of 1991
Athens, WV
Bellepoint Elementary SchoolClass of 1984
Hinton, WV
Madams Creek SchoolClass of 1978
Hinton, WV
Melissa's Story
Life
After high school, I went to Concord for a year. I was going to major in psychology and minor in social work. I am happy to say that I changed my major to nursing, and went to the College of WV after Concord, then graduated in 1996 with a BSN. During this time period, I met my first husband (in 1990), and in 1992, we had our son, Herbie. 5 years later, we divorced.
Since then, Herbie and I moved from West Virginia to New Jersey in Nov. 1999. I've been married to my wonderful husband, David, almost 9 years (married on Sept. 30, 2000). David is originally from New Jersey. We live on the Jersey Shore. I'm working as a RN Assessment Coordinator at a nursing and rehab center. It's so close to where we live, I could walk there. I work with a great crew. My husband is a sports editor for the Times-Beacon Newspapers.
David also has a side business in which he does lighthouse photography. I don't think I'm allowed to put the website address on here, so if you are interested in seeing it, contact me. To date, he has visited approx. 180 lighthouses. Herbie and I have gone on some of the trips, and the lighthouses are just beautiful! We always enjoy the trips.
We have a bilevel house. The bay and the beach is just minutes away from us. We are happy to announce our inground pool is finished (June '05)! We've been busy working on the landscaping. Atlantic City is approx. 40 minutes away while New York City is one hour and 20 minutes away. We live in the suburbs. It's a nice, quiet neighborhood. It's very clean (some people assume the entire state of NJ is dirty). Our neighbors are wonderful. The schools are excellent here. Herbie is always busy with friends and after school activities. We're members of Manahawkin Baptist Church and have a very nice church family.
Herbie is in the 12th grade. In the past, he's played baseball and hockey. His favorite sport now is wrestling. His passion is playing the guitar, and he's very good. He plays for fun with friends and also plays for our church.
I love keeping in touch with everyone! I enjoy emailing and writing letters. My family always knows who to come to when they need a mailing address or someone's birthdate....me! Writing is one of my hobbies.
I would love to hear from you, so please send me a message sometime. It's also nice to hear what classmates & past co-workers are doing these days. I love sharing pictures, and as you can probably tell, I'm very proud of my family. If you really get me started, I can't say enough about my husband and son. I was blessed with a loving husband and an awesome son.
One last thing. I've had people ask if I'm David or Tammy's little sister. Yes! David Ratliff and Tammy (Ratliff) Camara Howell are my siblings. It doesn't stop there. Steve and Joe Patrick are my brothers. So, if you are trying to reach them, I'd be happy to help you with that. Remember? I'm a walking directory. :)
School
My biggest crush during my years at Hinton High School was JG Allen. I'll never forget the first summer I found out where he lived. My friend, Debbie, and I would ride our bikes from my house on Summers Street out to 9th Avenue several times daily, so I could catch a glimpse of him. I was crazy about him. He probably thought I was a nut. :) I didn't get JG out of my efforts, but I got strong legs from peddling the bike day after day. (lol)
I can't really say there was one teacher that inspired me the most. I loved all my teachers! School was fun, especially my Senior year.
I'm still in contact with most of my HHS friends. As for the others, I hope to hear from you!
College
When...Expand for more
I was going to Concord College, Maria Stacey and I were commuting together. We had so much fun together that year! It was tough that year because I met my first husband, and I didn't want to go to class. I was more interested in dating him.
After I finished my first year of college, I decided it was time to get serious about what I wanted to do. My first husband decided to start Beckley College with me. We took our basic classes together. I had a few classes ahead of him, so he played catch up during the summer. We both got accepted into the nursing program. In 1992, we had our son. So, we were new parents plus handling the nursing program together. It was very stressful, but we survived it! We both graduated in 1996. We had a lot of "all-nighters" during those years. We would study, go to bed, set the alarm to get back up and study, then sleep just a little longer only to find it was time to get ready for class and head over the mountain to college. Our parents were very supportive during this time. It was difficult during those years, but I would do it all over again, because it has been worth every minute of it.
My first marriage didn't survive, but my nursing career is going great! I'm very happy with where life has taken me. If you've read my "life bio", you know why. :)
Workplace
When I graduated from nursing school in 1996 (College of WV with BSN), I went to work at Summers County Hospital. I started out working nights on the med-surg unit. Later on, I changed to days and worked mostly on the long term care unit, but continued to work med-surg as well. Prior to moving to New Jersey, that's when the long term care nurse manager, Valeria, taught me about MDS's.
It was really cool working at Summers County Hospital. Years prior to me being hired there, my Mom worked there as well, mostly in ICU. A lot of nurses she worked with and most of which knew me as a little girl, were still working there. I made several friends that still keep in touch with me.
Once I moved here in New Jersey, I started working at Manahawkin Nursing & Rehab. They were aware of my knowledge of MDS's, but I started out as a floor nurse, mostly working on 2nd floor. My time on second floor wasn't permanent because I became their MDS Coordinator.
I left Manahawkin and started working at Barnegat Nursing Center in December of 2003. They wanted a MDS nurse who could handle the entire building doing long term care MDS's in addition to medicare PPS. Both deal with the MDS form, but PPS requires that more assessments be done according to how long the person is skilled under medicare. It's just a whole big deal that I won't bore you with. :) Our administrator calls me the "money lady" if that helps give an indication to the importance of this job. But my real title is
RAC-CT which means I'm a certified resident assessment coordinator.
So, I am still at Barnegat Rehab & Nursing Center, working as their MDS/PPS Coordinator. My job can be very hectic, and some days, I ask myself, "Why did I get into this part of nursing?" I only have those days when we get bombarded with admissions and then I have what seems like tons of long term care assessments due. My
co-workers know how I am about being on time and everything being organized, etc. It seems like when I close one door and open a new one, I find myself being a MDS Coordinator at the next facility, so I guess it's what I'm supposed to be doing. I love being a nurse! The good thing about my job is I get to know each resident and short term rehab patient in the building! I've met so many interesting people. I love it!
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