By Becca Parker/reporter

Dressed in a golden gown with a big golden bracelet and spiral curls cascading from her pigtails, Dr. Judith Carrier shined as Cinderella in her fourth grade class play.

“ That was a magical night in my childhood. I felt so so special and carried that feeling with me for a very long time,” Carrier, SE Campus president, said.
In Kingsville, Texas, a fourth grade teacher by the name of Ruth Hazelwood impacted Carrier’s life a great deal.

“ I was living in an Army-base town, so there was a shortage of teachers. My teacher, Mrs. Hazelwood, was very pregnant, which was odd in my time of growing up,” she said. “She had long red hair and was very beautiful. I knew that she liked me and believed in me when she told me she was to name her baby girl after me. I felt a tremendous amount of joy after hearing that.”

Carrier said she has always realized she is competent and did not need excessive attention and praise from other people.

“ But when a certain someone comes along, appreciates you, believes in you and inspires you, you have to take that one person’s belief in you and value that they value you,” she said.

One person can influence a life in many ways, whether a fourth grade teacher, a mother or a friend. For Carrier, the woman who impacted her the most was her mother.

“ My mother always taught us kids to go for what we wanted, but to be ethical in all that we did,” she said. 

Carrier’s father also played a big part in her life. A very strong man, he instilled the same values as her mother, Carrier said.

As one of six children, Carrier recognized her mother’s most admirable trait: her extreme fairness.

“ When one of the other kids or I were arguing on why we should be able to get something, she always had a tremendous way of getting us to see her side and accept her decision,” she said.

“ That quality cannot be taught. In my opinion, it’s something that you are born with.”

Carrier said in her time there were not many women role models or mentors, but someone who impacted her professionally was Harriet Griffin, an educator.

“ I remember the Army flying us to West Point, N.Y., with Harriet. She was my roommate, and it was almost as if the commanders and sergeants were saluting her and not the other way around,” she said. “She was just so very dynamic and brilliant, a woman ahead of her time. I would go visit her in her later years, and even when she had stopped teaching, she could still stimulate my mind.”

Although these three women guided Carrier, she said the most important impact for her is the impact that she has on others.

“ I hope to impact people of diversity, those who have struggled long and hard for what they believe in,” she said.