Special Connections: Meet MPH Graduate Tameca Reynolds

How Chamberlain Helped a Student Find Her Purpose in Public Health

Connecting With Her Inner Resilience

“I had always wanted to be a doctor, but my freshman year in high school, I failed biology,” Tameca says. She recalls that her counselor had harsh words for her about the slim odds of getting into college. Rather than enroll in a traditional four-year university, she chose to pursue an associate degree. Tameca not only earned this degree quickly, in just 1.5 years, but also graduated with honors. Then she decided, “I had to strengthen my weakness. I took on the challenge and kept going.” She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree, again with honors. Her major was biology, the subject she had once failed.

Tameca was ready to take the next step in her education, but her mother, a single mom, couldn’t afford to send her to medical school. So, Tameca decided to join the working world and give back. She became a residential program manager, supervising three homes for high-functioning young adults with disabilities such as Down syndrome and autism. She supervises a staff of 20. She shares, “People look at my clients and they don’t understand their diagnosis. I want to be an advocate and be their voice.”

Connecting With the Public Health Field

Then Tameca heard about Chamberlain University’s online Master of Public Health (MPH) degree program. Earning a degree online is a great option for adults who work full time, and Tameca immediately enrolled. She notes, “I had two goals: I wanted to learn all that I could about how to prevent diseases and how to help people live their best life. Public health taught me all of that.” Perhaps even more important, she says, “Chamberlain made me find my purpose again.”

Her MPH program teachers were an important part of her journey. Tameca says they kept pushing her to accomplish more, leading her to participate in meet-and-greet events and host webinars. “I’m very hands-on, and I want to be out there in the community doing my best work,” she says. 

Today, in addition to working full time, Tameca serves on healthcare committees and volunteers with children who have been abused. “They have no voice and no family, so I find support for them,” she says. She also teaches them how to stay safe and how to identify abuse and neglect. “It strengthens me as a person to educate someone,” she shares. “My best approach is that I listen. They all have a story, and they need to be heard rather than be told what to do.”  
Tameca’s leadership skills have earned her accolades from colleagues, supervisors and, most important, the parents of her residents. “My role is to be a jack-of-all-trades — the administrator on duty, the person who jumps in to assist with a crisis situation and the one to bring everyone to safety. I’m never too good to roll up my sleeves,” she says.

Connecting With Family

When Tameca walked down the graduation aisle, she didn’t go alone. Her mom, Novelette Gooden, graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree from Chamberlain alongside her.

Novelette grew up in Jamaica and came to the United States as a teenager. Eventually she started a career as a certified nursing assistant, just like her own mother. After a few years, she became a licensed practical nurse but couldn’t continue with her education plans until Tameca finished her bachelor’s program. Once her daughter graduated, Novelette returned to school to become a registered nurse, and soon landed a job as a unit manager in charge of other nurses. 

She recalls, “They had their bachelor’s degrees, and I thought, ‘Let me step it up a notch.’” Her boss was enrolled at Chamberlain, so she enrolled there, too, choosing the BSN degree program. Tameca soon enrolled in the MPH program, and the two bonded over study sessions. 

Future Connections

Novelette is now a nurse manager in a special care center at a nursing home. Tameca recently graduated from a public health doctoral program. Tameca hopes that in the future she’ll be able to travel to underserved communities abroad to treat young people who are malnourished or have acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Or perhaps she’ll tap into her love for education and become a professor, traveling the world to help others while teaching. Or maybe she will open up her own practice so that she and her mom can work together as a team.

Novelette says with a laugh, “She said I can be the nurse and she can be the doctor. We’ll see how that works!”

Reflecting on her educational journey, Tameca says that when she failed biology, she could have given up on a career as a healthcare professional. And when her mother couldn’t afford to send her to medical school, she could have given up her dream of becoming Dr. Reynolds. But, she says, “I’m not a quitter.”

Novelette agrees, saying, “She pushed herself. She’s a go-getter, and I’m very proud of her.”

Honoring Public Health Professionals

During National Public Health Week, Chamberlain celebrates the contributions of the thousands of public health professionals like Tameca Reynolds who are helping to build safe and healthy communities through their work in population health, education, advocacy, environmental health, epidemiology and more.

Are you interested in joining them? Learn more about public health, career opportunities and public health degrees.

Chamberlain’s online Master of Public Health degree program can help prepare you to become a change agent in many arenas, whether it’s community health or global health, as a healthcare administrator or a public health educator. And be sure to join us in celebrating all the public health professionals who dedicate themselves to making the world a better place.

Chamberlain University, an accredited institution, offers bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral and certificate programs in nursing and healthcare professions. With a growing network of campuses and robust online programs, Chamberlain continues to build on more than 130 years of excellence in preparing extraordinary healthcare professionals.

The Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH), www.ceph.org, Board of Councilors acted at its August 26, 2021, meeting to accredit Chamberlain University's College of Health Professions Master of Public Health (MPH) program for a five-year term. The accreditation term extends until December 31, 2026, pending the program's continued documentation of compliance as required by the Council. The effective date of the program's initial accreditation is December 16, 2019. CEPH is an independent agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to accredit schools of public health and programs of public health. CEPH assures quality in public health education and training to achieve excellence in practice, research and service, through collaboration with organizational and community partners. For a copy of the final self-study document and/or final accreditation report, please contact Dr. Sharonda Wallace, MPH program dean at MPHProgram@Chamberlain.edu. 

Chamberlain University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (www.hlcommission.org), an institutional accreditation agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. 
 

By Heather L Hurtado