Samford's First Lady Jeanna Westmoreland Continues Her Busy Pace
Dr. Jeanna King Westmoreland, wife of Samford University president Dr. Andrew Westmoreland, hopes to spend the next year meeting people and learning about the school. For the fall issue of Seasons, she graciously shared information about her life as an educator, mother and wife of a college president. More of her thoughts are presented here.
On special moments in teaching, and what led to her career choice:
"My mother was a teacher, so that was a strong influence. I never really thought of myself as a teacher until my 11th grade history teacher talked to me about it. He asked me to teach his classes on a 'future teacher day.' He was encouraging and supportive. I love people and enjoy helping them. He helped me see how teaching involved both.
"My special moments as a professor had to be working individually with students on their research/course projects. Spending time with each student individually gave me the opportunity to really see what their interests were and to see them excited about what they were learning. I enjoyed helping them through hurdles to successfully complete the project.
"When I was a public school teacher, my greatest joy was developing a love of math in students who thought they were not good at it."
On the importance of church:
"Church has always been at the center of my life. My dad was a pastor of small churches so I was actively involved in everything."
On opening her home to 800 new students for a start-of-school ice cream social:
"Andy, Riley and I love to be with students. We want to know them by name, know about their lives. This was the beginning of that process. For Andy and me, our education was greatly enriched by those professors and administrators who were passionate about their teaching, about the place where they worked and the students with whom they worked. We want to have that same kind of personal connection with students."
On hobbies:
"Traveling is my favorite thing. I always have a list of places I want to go. Since I can't always be on the road, I enjoy reading as my daily hobby. I love to read suspense, history, travel and education books, but also light fun books.
"Right now I am working on three books that are very different. The Chosen is a book about history of the selective admissions policies at Harvard, Yale and Princeton. The Judgment of Paris is about the history behind the development of the impressionist art movement in France. Just for fun, I am reading Miss Julia Stands Her Ground, one of a series of books about a strong, older southern woman and her humorous exploits."
On daughter Riley:
"She is doing well. She has made several new friends at school and in the churches we have visited. Being a teenaged girl, she loves the shopping opportunities in Birmingham. She is taking three advanced placement classes, so she has lots of reading and homework."
On Birmingham and Samford:
"Until last Thanksgiving, I had only been through Birmingham on my way to Atlanta, and that was almost 20 years ago. Most of my knowledge of Birmingham centered around what I learned in history about the steel industry and the civil rights movement. So, I had a lot to learn. It's all new and interesting and different from Arkansas.
"Samford has been great! It was hard to imagine room in my heart for another great school, but my heart has been won. The people have been wonderfully accepting, warm and welcoming."