Grad awarded teaching assistantship

Author and former journalist Nancie Hudson returned to college in 2008 to finish her undergraduate degree because she couldn't find a job. Two years later, Hudson graduated from Grand Valley with honors and now has landed her dream job - a teaching assistantship at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Hudson spent 15 years as a successful communications professional, and her published works include more than 650 articles in national magazines and in West Michigan business publications and newspapers. She aspires to become a professor of communication, and her two-year teaching assistantship award will include a tuition waiver while she accomplishes the next step in her professional development, earning a master's degree in communication.

Having grown up in West Michigan, Hudson graduated from Loy Norrix High School in Kalamazoo and moved to Houston, Texas. She worked as a public relations assistant at an oil company, as a marketing assistant at a financial institution, as a radio news reporter, and as a newspaper reporter. After moving back to West Michigan, she worked as a freelance writer and regular contributor to the Kalamazoo Gazette and Western Michigan Business Review, formerly Business Direct Weekly. In 2004 she published a book, Truth is Funnier Than Fiction, a collection of essays and stories gathered during years of interviews.

"Returning to college after being in the workforce for many years was challenging," said Hudson, "but my Grand Valley advisor helped me map an educational plan, the professors mentored me and encouraged me to study hard, the library staff helped me find academic resources, and scholarships helped me pay for tuition. You have to work hard, but it pays off."

Hudson received five scholarships from Grand Valley and a 2009 ATHENA Scholarship from the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce. A Grand Valley Student Travel Grant also provided her the opportunity to present her original research at the Sooner Communication Conference at the University of Oklahoma. In December 2009, Hudson graduated magna cum laude from Grand Valley with a Bachelor of Science in Advertising and Public Relations and a 3.99 GPA.