Inspire, Summer 2006

Inspire 19 While she was thankful that her son was very communicative with her, balancing the competing personal and professional needs in her life was a challenge. “I had to learn to shut myself in my classroom more so I could get school work done in school, because I had grad school work once I left,” she said. “That was really tough, because as a social person, I thrive on people. But somehow I learned to find balance.” Exercise was a vital part of that. With grad school finished, Laura naively thought she would have more time, but Drew’s school schedule became more demanding. Along with that, he was looking at colleges, which required time from Laura. Additionally, Laura started training clients and had taken on the position of English department chairperson and student council advisor on the side. Going through this season of wearing so many hats, Laura said part of being balanced was her refusal to lose her identity as a person. After earning an M.Ed in exercise science and an American College of Sports Medicine Health and Fitness Instructor certification, Laura left teaching and became a full-time personal trainer and fitness speaker. “It is my job to encourage people to develop healthy habits,” she explained. “It’s a pretty cool field. I do what I love, and I get to use my teaching background right along with it!” Now with a more balanced schedule, Laura is in the gym as much as possible and watches her diet. She noted, “While I am not a fat-free freak, I do watch what fats I eat and absolutely avoid anything that says ‘hydrogenated’ in an ingredients list.” All of that led her to co-author a book called Dr. Bob’s Trans Fat Survival Guide . Laura says she doesn’t know how she made it through 13 years of single-parenting on her own. “But like I mentioned earlier, Drew’s dad was in his life until he moved out of state, and between him and my parents, Drew was able to get where he needed and have food when I had to be in class,” she stated. Even with help, Laura says she can’t begin to describe the mistakes she made along the way. It seems to her that she must have had to apologize a hundred times for losing her cool simply because she was frustrated from being so tired and not being able to do it all. She recalled, “My neighbor would frequently hear me yelling at Drew. She would lovingly remind me that at the age of 13 all brain matter leaves children but returns again between ages 18 and 19. Not only would that make me laugh and get some perspective, but it was so true.” She proudly shares that today Drew is well-adjusted and doing extremely well in college. “He even made the dean’s list his freshman year!” she proudly noted. Looking back Laura says her life has been a constant balance of work, single parenting, and running a household on top of graduate school. She concluded, “I’ve made so many mistakes and left huge gaps, but God is so good. He repays twofold what the enemy has stolen.” For more information about personal training or Laura’s book, visit her Web site at www.laurameyer.org . I remember being so frustrated with trying to do it all at that point. ... Many days were spent deprogramming Drew from the negative influences of public education and teaching him to take in the meat and spit out the bones of his day.