One of our student spotlights this month is a Sewaren girl, Bea Davis
Braswell. Many of us are Facebook friends with Bea and love reading about her
starting so late in life! I laughed, Bea started out by saying “just in case no
one remembers me, I was the co-captain of the WHS Drill Team”. I do believe all
those who knew Bea, cannot forget her.
After graduation, Bea began
working for the telephone company in Perth Amboy. Being somewhat of a restless
soul, Bea wanted to travel so she became a flight attendant for United Airlines
based out of and living in New York City. During a time of her flight attendant
days she caught the attention of a magazine mogul and he offered her a job with
his company. This was the beginning of a series of jobs in the corporate
sector. In 1976, Bea landed a job working at the DeVry Technical Institute in
Iselin, New Jersey, where she met her husband John, who is currently a
supervisor at United Cerebral Palsy. They have been married for 38 years, have
one daughter, Kym, and five beautiful grandchildren.
In high school,
Bea was good friends with Chris Elisko, who passed away too early, and Beth
Goodale. Beth and Bea still maintain contact, but not as frequently as Bea
would like. Bea still maintains friendships through Facebook with John
Carvana, David Muse, and Sharon Melvin.
Bea’s biggest regret is that she did
not have the confidence in herself to attend college right out of high school.
She always wanted to be a doctor and now thinking back on it, if she had the
right mentor ship, she believes she would have pulled it off. Other than that,
she enjoyed every second of her youth and her experience at WHS. Bea also plans
on trying very hard to get back for our 45th reunion. When John Carvana learned
of Bea's Blog feature he asked to include the following: "I've known Bea since
we were in junior high school. I thought then, as I do now, that she was one of
the cutest girls I'd ever seen. Always loved her big smile and her genuine
"perkiness". We liked each other but since Sewaren was too far from Iselin, we
didn't actually "date", however, she was my girl at the Woodbridge Junior High
School Junior or Prom (I think that's what it was called). Had it not been for
Bea, I may have never met my best friend of 50+ years, Gary Morton. We were both
a bit smitten by Bea and I won her over (of course) but Gary and I remained
friends throughout. Actually, the three of us have remained friends all these
years. I think the world of Bea. She has become a strong spiritual role model
for me and I'm sure for others. We haven't seen each other in years, but she's
someone that always has a special place in my heart. Got mad love for ya, Bea!
Namaste!"In 2000, Bea took a course at the Institute for Integrative
Nutrition in New York to study Holistic Health Counseling. It was there Bea
discovered she had a gift for counseling, so at the young age of 50, she started
college and obtained a Bachelors in Psychology from Ottawa University in
Phoenix. After being a part of social work for a period of time, inclusive of a
job as a Case Manager for Child Protective Services, Bea decided to pursue her
dream of a Master’s Degree and work with children. She began that pursuit at
Capella University. Due a series of “stops” and “starts”, she finally succeeded
in that degree after five years. Bea is finally at the internship stage and
currently works as a Child Therapist at an inner city facility in Phoenix, AZ.
Bea states it is a crazy time of her life. When most of our classmates are
winding down, Bea is just getting started!
Bea is also a Reiki
Practitioner and Holistic Health Counselor. Reiki is a Japanese technique for
stress reduction and relaxation that promotes healing done by “laying of hands”
and is based on our “life force energy” flowing through our bodies. If your
life force is high, you are more capable for being happy and healthy.
Bea enjoys cooking, soap making, sewing and decorating. Bea and her husband
love to travel and their biggest wish is to become beach bums in Key West!
However, she acknowledges that both of them need to slow down first.
Thank you, Bea, for allowing us to profile you. It was great talking with you
and I hope your beach bum days in Key West happen for you and John.
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