Biography

Hi! My name is Courtney Milleson. I'd like to introduce myself and help you get to know me a bit better.

Education

I attended elementary school in Dumas, Texas and my family moved to Muleshoe shortly before (5th grade) I started middle school. I graduated from Muleshoe High School in 1992 and attended West Texas A&M University. At WT I was active in many different social and service organizations. In the summer's I went back home to Muleshoe and worked. I also drove to Clovis Community College to pick up some classes to transfer back to WT. During my time at WT, I majored in Speech with a Public Relations emphasis. I graduated in 1996. I was the first person in my mom's family to graduate from college, and I am tied for second on my dad's side of the family. I consider myself to be a first-generation college student.

In graduate school at Texas Tech University, I studied higher education. In these courses, I learned how colleges and universities shape and impact students. I graduated from Tech with my Master's of Education in 1999.

In 2000 I began working on doctoral classes. I officially became "ABD" (All But Dissertation) in 2006, but stopped taking classes shortly afterward.

Professional Life

After I graduated from West Texas, I accepted a position with Odessa College (OC) in Odessa, Texas. While working at OC, I served as the coordinator of student recruiting and later as the coordinator of student activities. I truly enjoyed my time at OC. I learned a lot!

After OC, I worked at West Texas A&M University as the Associate Director of the Jack B. Kelley Student Center - Student Activities. In this role, I coordinated all of the student activities for the campus, all fraternity and sorority activities, as well as supervising several student organization projects. It was a huge learning experience.

Finally, in 2002, I went back to my community college roots and began working at Amarillo College. I love the students and staff of Amarillo College. In 2016 I was fortunate enough to be placed in the Speech Communication department as a full-time faculty member. I adore my work with students in and out of the classroom. Helping students reach their goals by managing their communication expectations is paramount!

Personal Life

While living in Odessa, I met and married my husband, Jay. Together we are raising three kids, Madeline, John and Reed. We have a Great Dane named Ivy, and two cats, Desert and Mrs. Cuddles.

Hobbies

I enjoy travelling with students and my family. I also have taught myself how to quilt (I know, I'm old), gardening and how to can food from our garden. Our family adores baseball. I am a Chicago Cubs fan, but I'll watch any baseball game that's on tv. Naps are the best thing ever invented followed up by Dr Peppers and chocolate. I adore competitive art competitions (marching competition, concert/sight reading, VASE, OAP, speech tournaments, etc.) and don't understand why others don't as well.