Aces of Trades: Sarah Leatherwood is helping students find happiness
CHILLICOTHE – Her hope is to help students find happiness – as she has.
“I was a very imaginative and creative kid,” recalled Sarah Leatherwood. “I enjoyed hanging out with my sisters and friends, but I spent a lot of time doing things on my own too. I always loved exploring outside, drawing, reading, and writing. My dad always encouraged me to be a child’s book author or illustrator, but it’s not something I ever pursued. Instead, I really wanted to be a veterinarian. I had a heart for animals, and I guess that was the first indication I would find myself in a helping profession, although I never imagined it would be with humans!”
Today, Leatherwood is a success advisor at Ohio University Chillicothe.
“I’m primarily responsible,” she explained, “for providing guidance and assisting students in deciding on a major and scheduling their classes. This role is also about understanding the student’s needs and connecting them to the resources needed to ensure their success, such as tutoring, mental health services, financial aid, and accessibility services. No two days look the same and it’s definitely a role that requires flexibility and, at times, creative thinking.”
“I love interacting with students so I’m grateful I ended up in this position,” she added. “I think childhood Sarah would be pretty proud.”
Leatherwood grew up near Minford, in “the middle of nowhere,” as she described it. She graduated from high school in Beaver, OH, Shawnee State University in 2014 with a degree in psychology “as a first-generation college student,” then earned a master’s in education in clinical mental health counseling at Ohio University in Athens in 2017.
“I knew I wanted to use my degree to help others,” she said. “I taught psychology courses at Shawnee State as an adjunct instructor for a few years but missed using the counseling components of my degree.”
“My original goal,” she added, “was to serve as a community mental health counselor, which I did for a short time, but I didn’t have quite the same excitement for my work. It felt like the college setting was where I was meant to be.”
“I found myself gravitating more towards academia than public health,” she continued. “When I ran across this success advisor position, it felt like a path in which I would be able to combine my experiences as both an instructor and a counselor. I started at OU in November 2023.”
Ashlee Tatman, PhD is director of student services at Ohio University Chillicothe.
Students benefit from her knowledge, positive attitude
“Sarah’s background in mental health counseling and collegiate level teaching lends well to our holistic approach to advising on the Chillicothe campus,” assessed Tatman. “Our students benefit from her knowledge and positive attitude and our department benefits from another fantastic addition to our team.”
“I’ve felt incredibly welcome here,” Leatherwood responded. “Everyone has been warm and supportive from day one.”
“I find a lot of excitement in helping students to explore their options and find their passion,” she summed. “For a long time, I felt as though my direction was unclear. I wanted to do a little bit of everything and only had a vague idea of where I wanted to be. All of the puzzle pieces of my education, professional connections, and job experiences have fallen into place and I feel confident this is where I’m supposed to be. My hope is I can help students find happiness in their path too.”
For more information about Ohio University Chillicothe, go to www.ohio.edu/chillicothe.
About the Series
Aces of Trades is a weekly series focusing on people and their jobs – whether they’re unusual jobs, fun jobs or people who take ordinary jobs and make them extraordinary. If you have a suggestion for a future profile, let us know at gaznews@nncogannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Sarah Leatherwood is helping students find happiness at OUC
