By Nate Fisher

When LaMonica Brown was a freshman at Meridian High, she thought she had it all figured out. Her career aspirations leaned toward journalism, and she practiced this through her love of talking to people and participating in school activities such as the yearbook and paparazzi clubs. Now an account manager and notary at Legence Bank and completing a degree in Healthcare Management, LaMonica is living her belief that there’s nothing wrong with change.

LaMonica graduated in 2009 with a dream to move to Alabama and attend Grambling University, an HBCU (historically black college/university). Though she considered herself a good student in high school, she admits that she didn’t always feel challenged. This isn’t something she blames the school for. In fact, she sings the praises of her teachers who didn’t sugarcoat the truth, but instead gave it to her straight and up front. Despite not attending Grambling, she did what she does and kept an open mind until she found what fit. She attended Southern Illinois University-Carbondale off and on until 2013, working shifts at Target and Macy’s. After graduating from Shawnee College in 2015, she returned to SIUC, where she is excited to be finishing a degree in Healthcare Management.

“LaMonica is living her belief that there’s nothing wrong with change.”

Her shift toward a career in Healthcare Management was another adaptation inspired by her time spent working at Addus HomeCare in a home healthcare role she describes as a combination of “bathing, bill paying, and just caring.” She served her local community at Addus, assisting individuals who lived in both Pulaski and Alexander counties. By working on a degree in Healthcare Management, she hopes to continue making a difference in the community for which she shares a real love and special bond.

LaMonica’s story is a study in “adaptive perseverance,” the ability to keep an open mind and find what fits. She says this trait comes from her love of community, supportive friendships, and the people skills that make it possible. She identifies one ingredient in this skillset as the ability to read a room and a real-time awareness of all the social cues people share. A large part of this relates to her choice to avoid becoming consumed by idol or hero worship. She finds that she can be fully capable of viewing others positively without crossing that line.

If someone were to travel back in time and offer a twelve-year-old LaMonica a summary of her future, they might be shocked to discover that she does not become a scientist, her childhood dream. What might be far less surprising is the knowledge that her independent spirit would grow to become an expert in the very scientific process of adaptation, always keeping an open mind, driven by a love of lifelong friendships and commitment to community, and always finding what best fits.