In the early 80’s, a refugee man and an art-hippie woman combined forces to create a perfect specimen of human. “Sometimes things just don’t work the way you planned,” and Jeanette Mairead was born May 6th, 1982 in Poughkeepsie, New York.

 

Jeanette spent the early years of her elementary school career in Queens, NY. She was an attention-seeking child, as any of the family’s home movies can tell you, but she was advanced for her age, learning to read before Kindergarten. She spent the first half of 3rd grade in Hyde Park, NY, before she moved to Merritt Island, FL with her parents and new-ish little sister.

 

When living in Merritt Island, Jeanette wore “cross-colors” clothing, listened to rap and popular R and B, and drew pictures of Africa to put on her walls. Occasionally, she walked with a limp. Some may say this was when the seeds were planted for her future service in Africa. Others wouldn’t.

 

After many moves, Jeanette, along with her sister Stephanie and new baby brother Eric, followed her parents to Snellville, GA, where she would ultimately spend her teenage years.

 

Teenage years? We won’t go there.

 

After graduating from Shiloh High School, Jeanette began to pursue a Computer Science degree from Southern Polytechnic State University. Then she moved to Decatur, GA,  and transferred to Georgia State University to get a Psychology degree. Then switched to Sociology. A Geology class was at the right place at the right time, and it was decided. She’d be a Geologist. 

 

For three full years, Jeanette worked harder than she ever had to get her degree. She’d found her calling in science, and in the department. She earned her B.S. in Geology with concentration in Environmental Geology from GSU cum laude, with departmental distinction. She got the Field Camp Award (shared with Greg Gilmore), the David Orgen Memorial Scholarship, she was Geology Club president, represented Sigma Gamma Epsilon Honor Society for GSU... She felt pretty good about herself.

 

Upon getting her schist together, educationally, she dropped the pizza gig for a real job at the US Geological Survey, as a Student Trainee Hydrologist. To maintain the job, she started graduate school at GSU for a Professional Hydrogeology Certificate. She taught labs her first semester, and liked being a teacher (even though she wasn’t very good at it).

 

A few of months into it, she realized that a desk job wasn’t for her, to put it sweetly. She had never thought of the Peace Corps before, but for some reason it popped into her head. She researched it, did some soul-searching, and decided to apply. Even though she wanted to leave earlier, she set her requested departure for October 2006, as to not miss her little sister’s 21st birthday.

 

During the application process, Jeanette continued to work for the USGS because she loved the people she worked with and for. And the benefits were good. In November 2005, she was nominated to serve in the Peace Corps in Sub-Saharan Africa as a High School Science Teacher.

 

Unexpected medical problems arose, causing her to miss her intended departure time. Because of this, and newly acquired skills, her nomination was changed to serving in Francophone Africa as an Environmental Educator. Her medical tests went as planned, and she was invited to join the Peace Corps in Madagascar as an Agroforestry Volunteer, leaving February 18th, 2007.

  

Jeanette continued to work for the USGS until February 1st, 2007. She volunteered with Trees Atlanta on occasional Saturdays, and vermicomposted. She never went back to boxing, a sport she loves, due to time/money issues. But she still shadow-boxes when nobody's looking.