The Windsor Journal

Hersha-Ann Smith is an inspiration. A former Navy airman who helped provide support for air operations in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq; a published author of inspirational women's literature; and a single mother of two small children who is working on her Ph.D. at night. Hersha started working at Loomis Chaffee this fall for the Physical Plant Department. She distributes mail and other packages around the campus, a job that she admits is much calmer than many of her other occupations.

Growing up as an Army brat, Hersha graduated from Windsor High in 2001 with a goal of traveling the world. She soon got her wish as she served several tours of duty during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. She served as an aviation aircraft handler aboard the USS Wasp, an amphibious warship that resembles a small aircraft carrier, where she assisted in the launching and landing of aircraft. "It was amazing, scary, and sometimes very dangerous," she notes. The fireworks she initially observed on arrival in Iraq turned out to be aerial bombardments, and she acknowledged that the combat experience changed her view of the world and her purpose in it.

The grind of daily military operations can be tense and tedious and Hersha found herself turning to an old friend ñ writing. "I have always been a writer. Even as a child I used to write poetry and actually had some poems published," she says. "My Navy writing started out as therapy journals, but they soon took on a life of their own complete with different characters. I had to keep writing to see what would happen to these new friends," she adds with a laugh.

The journals eventually became a series of short stories about real-life situations that women face every day and how they learn to overcome obstacles in life similar to what she and her friends were facing. The writing helped Hersha to build her own dreams and plan her future.

An immediate goal was to obtain a better education. After finishing her tour of duty, she enrolled in Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, and then continued her studies in an on-line program at Ashford University, which offers many programs designed just for military veterans. She holds both a bachelor of arts and a master's degree in organizational management, and she is working toward a Ph.D.

She moved back to Windsor in 2011 so that her two small children, Kenisa, 3, and Isaiah, 2, would be around family and friends. Sheloves being back in Windsor with all of the opportunities that are available in the area. Since moving home she has published her first book Woman of Purpose ñ For the Woman in Transition (Authorhouse.com). The book tells the fictional stories of three different women and shows how each woman finds her way forward through her own purpose and goals. She has other books in the works, and she also is implementing a mentoring program called Destined for Success that she hopes will provide assistance to middle and high school students as well as adults who are changing their careers.

"Working at Loomis Chaffee is such a joy," she says with a wide smile. She finds the LC environment to be stimulating. "It is inspiring to see the teachers and students learning together and it is a place that I hope I can contribute more to in the future as working and sharing in an educational environment is another of my life goals." And Hersha-Ann Smith is a woman who believes in attaining her goals and helping others to attain theirs, too.

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