Staff Spotlight: Medie, is an accountant, student, volunteer and fashionista
Last updated: September 19, 2018, at 5:18 a.m. PT
Originally published: September 15, 2018, at 10:46 a.m. PT
Medie
Medie works in the Y’s accounting department. When she’s not at work, she’s either: taking classes and studying for her Bachelor’s in Accounting at UW, volunteering at her church or putting together another show stopping outfit.
Medie came to the U.S. 5 years ago from the Democratic Republic of Congo. America is not what she expected. From movies, it seemed like everyone was nice and would come up to talk to you on the street. She thought it would be easy to get a job and to make friends. At home, there were people around always but here, she says, “I felt like I was living in a jail. I stopped eating because I lost my appetite.”
Her first months in the U.S. were a struggle. Medie leaned into the difficulty to work as hard as possible to improve her English and in the process build a community around her. She volunteered at Edmonds Community College as well as with her church to spend as much time as possible around native speakers and over time, she was able to speak confidently and completed an Associates in Accounting in the process.
Originally, Medie planned to become a journalist. Unfortunately that program wasn’t offered at Edmonds so at the recommendation of an advisor she studied business. “I wasn’t good at math,” Medie said after taking her first accounting class, but then, because she enjoyed the process of working hard to get results, she decided to study Accounting fulltime.
It’s clear that Medie has an incredible work ethic. When she walks in a room, she exudes an energy that is welcoming and joyful. In part, her wardrobe is to thank for that. She’s incredibly fashionable and thoughtful about how she presents herself. “You can lose opportunities if you dress like you don’t care.” But her fashion sense seems to be more than that—for her, it’s an art.
Medie chooses to work for the Y because she believes that an investment in creating opportunities for kids is the pathway to a brighter future locally and globally.