Evanie Tims

On September 18, 1986 in Ruston, LA, I, Evanie Tims inhaled my first breath. Born to O.B. and Mary Tims, I was the second and last female born in our Christian, African American, home. Originally from Haynesville, LA, my parents moved to Ruston in 1982 so their children would have the ability to take advantage of living and furthering their education in a college town. As a result of their migration, all three of their children are pursuing or have obtained degrees from Louisiana Tech University. My oldest sibling and sister Candia graduated from Tech in 2003, I am currently attending, and my brother, Orren is an enrolled freshman.

All of my life I’ve had experiences with diversity. I attended public schools in elementary, middle, junior and high schools. From students of different races to students with different beliefs, I was exposed to the variations of people and gained a respect for all. With my gained respect for all cultures and having a desire to teach, I planned early to carry my acceptance of diversity with me in my teaching career.

As an employee of Louisiana Tech Department of Human Resources, my experiences with diversity has broadened since I became a college student. From having to work with graduate assistants of many ethnicities to communicating with faculty members from different parts of the world, through my experiences on my job, I have remained an individual that thinks positive of and has the greatest respect for all cultures.

My current beliefs and values are all a result of my upbringing. Living my childhood in a lower middle class home, my parents always encouraged their children to strive for the best and no matter what ethnicity or social class we belonged, to never feel inferior to others or let anyone “run over” us. We were never sheltered from the existence of discrimination. We were always informed that it certainly was a problem worldwide. Having such positive and educated parents in my life, I am fortunate and have exceeded most of the stereotypical expectations of women of the African American race. I admire both of my parents for instilling such strong beliefs in me which has contributed greatly to my high self-esteem. I hope my possession of positivism and openness to diversity will lead and result in me being an effective educator.