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KAYSVILLE -- If it's worth doing, if it has some value in it, find a way to do it. That's the lesson a teacher in Kaysville hopes to get across to her students.
Linda Oldham didn't skip a beat when we interrupted her class at Davis Applied Technology College. But once we told her she had been nominated for a High 5, she commented, "I have no lipstick today. Who put you up to this? The only day I forget my lipstick and you guys are here!"
My life's motto really has become ‘I will find a way.'
–Linda Oldham
Linda's humor and enthusiasm grab your attention as soon as you meet her. Her words of wisdom stay with you long after you leave.
"My life's motto really has become ‘I will find a way,'" she said.
Linda is a registered nurse, teaches students in DATC's CNA program how to care for patients, and she's totally blind. A staph infection 17 years ago caused complications with Linda's diabetes and led to her vision loss. She refused to let that be a reason to give up nursing.
Mindy Tulane, lead CNA instructor, said, "I had a job fair about four and a half years ago and she came up and handed me a resume. I thought, what am I supposed to do? She's blind. How is she supposed to teach students? She can't see. She has amazed all of us."
Linda explained, "It's difficult, but what an opportunity that blindness has afforded me to be led on this pathway, to teach the things that I love."
Student Nathan Barnhurst said he's learned important things from Linda. "Things get hard a lot in life, but you just really have to find a way and that's really what makes us great."
Mindy Tulane calls Linda "absolutely amazing." "She is like the inspiration for all of our instructors."
Linda told us, "You find a way to question your own limitations, your own self doubt and then you will be unstoppable because the dynamic will change from ‘I can't do this, I don't think I can do this,' to ‘I will find a way to do this.'"
As a thank you, Linda received a gift basket from our High 5 sponsors, Les Schwab, along with a $100 gift certificate for their services.
If you'd like to nominate someone for a High 5, click here.
