Eileen Albert
The most extraordinary thing about Eileen Albert’s life is that she considers it ordinary.
Eileen struggled with reading all through school and as a freshman in college, tested at the bottom 2 percent of her class. But Eileen didn’t give up and graduated from the University of Vermont in 1958 with a degree in Home Economics Education.
After cancer left her unable to have children, Eileen adopted three children: two boys and a girl. Then the unthinkable happened six years ago: Eileen’s oldest son, David, was murdered.
David had made it through Special Education classes in school and was doing very well when his life was tragically cut short. Eileen was devastated. She resigned from her job and started taking classes full time at Richland. She had taken Continuing Education classes at Richland off and on since 1976, so she knew she would find healing and support among her classmates and professors at Richland.
Eileen chose the credit Pharmacy Technician Program and threw herself into the daily routine of going to class and studying. “I knew it would take time to heal,” Eileen says. “It was a good distraction.”
At age 67, Eileen read an article about a triathlon for seniors and asked herself, “Why not try?” The day of the triathlon, CBS new was doing a feature for their Sunday Morning Show and sent a reporter to follow Eileen. Her goal was simply to finish, but she ended up placing first in her age category. Eileen gives credit to Richland’s P.E. Dept. through the Emeritus Program for being able to do so well.
Eileen applies her inspiring energy to volunteer work, too. She delivers Meals on Wheels and serves beverages at the Stewpot, a soup kitchen for the homeless; she volunteers with the Dallas Arboretum’s education department; and she works with Neighborhood Crime Watch and volunteers at her church.
In all that Eileen gives back, one of the most important is her story of courage and determination.
“I am just an ordinary person,” Eileen says. “When bumps come along, face them and then go around them and move forward – sometimes in a different direction.”