Begnaud's Bio

I was born in Saratoga, NY where my parents lived at the time. My dad, Quintin, was in college and Navy ROTC at Penn State University while my mom, Jennifer, attended Cornell pursuing her degree to become a veterinary technician. I was born on July 16, 1995 (that seems so old I know). After I was about a year old, we moved to State College, Pennsylvania. While we lived there, my sister, Tiffany, joined our family in 1998.

The first move that I can remember was when we moved to Pensacola, Florida. My dad was going to flight school in his dream of becoming a pilot in the Navy (and to one day work for NASA). I have a few memories from there, mostly of my pet Iguana (Godzilla), breaking my arm when I was four after falling off a swing set, and getting my first playstation. I was able to visit the beach for the first time at Pensacola Beach. I also began my dancing career at a little studio. After my dad was disqualified planes due to consistent air sickness, his career took a new turn that would change our lives forever.

Our next duty station was in Charleston, South Carolina. We lived on base (and I have actually visited my house since then) in a small duplex that had a huge playground in our neighborhood. Here, I started kindergarten and a portion of first grade. My dad attended the Sub Learning School (Which he later was in charge of) as he began his career in submarines. My dancing career really took off here as I started to make friends and get really interested in Ballet and Tap. Charleston was also the place we lived when 9/11 happened. It is really hard to explain how our lives changed after this event to those of you who are currently learning it as a history lesson. The world was a very different place before then. No one worried about bomb threats, or terrorist attacks. Our world is much different today because of it. I distinctly remember going to school that morning. We had just sat down and said the pledge of allegiance when our teachers told us all to pack our stuff up and head to the bus lane. As we were packed back on our school buses to go home, we had no idea as first graders what was happening. I remember it taking much longer to get home than normal because of having to go through a very thorough security check when we went through the gate to get on base. As I entered my house finally, I met my mother who was crying. As I looked at the TV to see what she was so upset about, I watched the second plane crash into the second tower on live tv. As a 6 year old, I really couldn't comprehend what was happening or the severity of it, but I do remember thinking that wasn't supposed to happen.

After things from 9/11 calmed down a little, my family packed up and moved home in Eldred, Pennsylvania. We lived there for a few months while my dad attended another school not too far away in Groton, Connecticut. I spent another portion of my 1st grade year in a school there. Where I met snow on the ground almost every morning and would charge ice creams bars to my account without my parent's knowledge (got in a lot of trouble for that one). It was here that my parents told me that we were moving to Guam. I remember my mom crying often after that news. We had no idea what we were walking into, let alone it being halfway around the world.

We moved to Guam shortly after Christmas after traveling for about 48 hours to get there. (If you didn't know, Guam is in a time zone that causes you to time travel when you fly from the mainland - pretty cool stuff). We moved into our house on base, which we were told during our move-in walk through had windows that would withstand a coconut flying at 250 MPH. Little did we know we would appreciate that fact in a few months. About a month after we moved in, we had our first typhoon arrive. Besides a lot of wind and water (No worse than a hurricane), everything was fine. We lost power and water for a few days, but we ate up the opportunity to sleep outside under the stars and the island breeze. Fast forward a few months to July, as I was blowing the candles on my birthday cake, the power went out (mind you stores were still not stocked with frozen foods after the typhoon, so no ice cream). Fast forward a few more months to December when Super Typhoon Pongsona hits. Between the two typhoons, apparently the foundation of our house was cracked from an earthquake. Needless to say, our house was full of ocean water. Toys were floating, floors were flooding, the whole nine yards. After that typhoon, we were without power and water for a few weeks. That was fun. Even in that rough time tough, I hold some of my best memories from my childhood.

While in Guam, I continued dancing and started Jazz and Pointe. I learned how to scuba dive. We went hiking (there it's called boonie stomping) and visited just about every attraction we could while we were there. I came to know our Lord and Savior at a small church down the road from my house. I got to see phytoplankton glow in the night and dolphins up close and personal in the deep sea. I learned how to play the saxophone and did some gymnastics. I would have stayed there my entire life if I had the opportunity.

When I was in 6th grade, we found out my dad got orders to Kings Bay, Georgia. But first, we would be spending 5 months in Connecticut. In the dead of Winter. So, in our shorts and t-shirts (you can't buy winter clothes on an island), we packed up and arrived to snow in the Tokyo airport and again in Connecticut. We lived in a TINY apartment on base where I was homeschooled the rest of the year. (I was also home schooled for 3rd & 4th grade). After our five months were up, we packed up with our four animals, my mom, my sister, and myself (dad was coming later) to our new house in Kingsland, Georgia. My sister and I were just excited that it had a pool in the backyard. While there, I finished middle school and high school and graduated in 2013. High school is where I met my husband (actually middle school) and we started dating our senior year through college.

I had to stop dancing after a major injuring to my ankle. So I got involved in the school Marching Band where I played the saxophone and french horn. I had career aspirations of being a marine biologist to I got into ag hoping it would help me get into college. It was this decision that changed the course of my life. My Ag teacher played a huge role in my life during high school. It was because of her that I got involved in our FFA chapter. I attended Governor's Honors and National FFA Convention as a Delegate due to her pushing me to do things. I can't thank her enough for what she did for me.

After graduation, I moved to Athens to attend the University of Georgia. A week before I left for school, I changed my major to agricultural education from marine biology, and I never looked back. I finished my degree a semester early so I graduated in December of 2016. A week later, we had Christmas. A week after that I got married and left for a cruise on my honeymoon. And the week after that, I started my first teaching job. I started teaching in January of 2017 at Jasper County High School where I taught Basic Ag Science and various levels of Ag Mechanics. While there, I received a Grants For Growing Grant from Tractor Supply to repair the greenhouse I had. After some issues with the administration there, I started looking around for jobs and Oconee just so happened to be looking for a new Ag teacher. Mr. Wiggins called me while at State FFA Convention that year and asked me to come in for an interview on Monday (two days later). I was deathly ill during my interview so I could hardly talk without coughing. Following the interview, Mr. Deitz gave me a tour of campus. About a week later, Mr. Wiggins called me and told me I got the job. I cried because I was so happy to be leaving the situation I was in. (Basically my principal didn't think I could do my job as well as a man.)

I started at Oconee in July 2017 and shortly after, my husband lost his job too. While that doesn't seem to great, but not terrible, it was incredibly unfortunate for us because we lived in the apartments he worked at (he worked as a leasing manager while going to school for a degree in Fire Science from Athens Tech). So we had about two weeks to find a place and move out, all while school was starting for the year. Thankfully, we made it through that rough time and the rough part of town we lived it after that.

Summer of 2018, we bought our first house in Winterville, Georgia. A few months later, we found out we were expecting our first child, Annabeth, the next summer. 2018 was by far Mr. Collins and I's most successful year at Oconee for several reasons, and one was because we had a state winning team. In the 2018-2019 school year.

My daughter was born on July 12, 2019 and I went on maternity leave until October of that year. I hit the ground running when I got back after going through two subs in my absence. Our poultry team was 3rd in the Nation that October at Convention (which Annabeth attended too).

Life is still moving fast, but I wouldn't have it any other way!