Meet UAH authors at Alumni Spotlight event

Adyre Mason ('08 BSE, Industrial and Systems Engineering) and Carly Hasting ('15 BSN, Nursing) will participate in an Alumni Author Spotlight event this week on the campus of The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH).

On Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 5:30 p.m., in the UAH Louis Salmon Library room 111, Mason and Hasting will read excerpts from their books, talk about their personal journeys as inspirational authors, and answer audience questions. The event is being held in conjunction with UAH Homecoming activities, and is sponsored by the Alumni Association and the library. The event is free and open to the public. Reserve your seat at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/AlumniAuthorSpotlight10-2015.

Adyre Mason ('08 BSE, Industrial and Systems Engineering)

adyremason.com

Adyre Mason ('08 BSE, Industrial and Systems Engineering)

UAH alumna Adyre Mason said writing Fightisms: Using the Past to Win Your Future, "had very little to do with me and was more about helping others." She firmly believes if you don't use past experiences to make your life better, "then it will bury you."

She started writing and illustrating children's books as a young girl. Mason has also written poetry, and in 2012 felt the need to write about her life experiences thinking she could help others.

Mason is a Lead Software Engineer for a U.S. Army program. She later earned an MSE from George Washington University (Washington, DC). She remembers her time at UAH fondly. Mason became interested in Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE) after shadowing two graduates from Sheffield High School who were students at UAH. "They spoke highly of the engineering program, so I came to visit for Engineering Day. I was not particularly interested in the other departments, until I stopped in ISE," she said. "Meeting Dr. Dawn Utley (Associate Professor of ISE) and participating in the experiment that she had available, peaked my interest in ISE." Mason said after reviewing career options and learning there were other female faculty members in the College of Engineering, she decided to pursue ISE.

"My experiences at UAH were great. I took advantage of as many opportunities as I could while a student. I interned or worked as a co-op student every summer and was even in the first class of the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship," she said.

Mason said she attended various conferences and job fairs while a student at UAH, and she vividly remembers how impressed the other attendees were with the university's research reputation. "While at UAH I also served in leadership positions with engineering organizations, ran for homecoming queen, and joined a sorority. I made so many friends that I still have today. I believe I had a well rounded, thorough college experience - minus the football team."

Mason considers her book, Fightisms to be an inspirational empowerment tool.

"Fightisms," she said, dispels the notion of perfection by "showcasing a person who from the outside looks like they have it all together, but really has a complicated history behind them. Each chapter ends with a section called 'winning your fight'. The reader knows they are not alone…they can begin to apply practical techniques from the book to their own lives and move towards healing and fulfillment."

Carly Hasting ('15 BSN, Nursing)

Michael Mercier | UAH

Carly Hasting ('15 BSN, Nursing)

"I have been interested in writing since I could hold a pencil," said UAH alumna and Athens, AL, native Carly Hasting. She graduated from the UAH College of Nursing in May, and recently published the book, A Day: In the Life of Me, the Life I Want, and the Life I Aspire to Have.

"Throughout elementary school, I was constantly writing little books and stories. I always knew that part of me wanted to be a writer and that one day I wanted to try my hardest to get published," Hasting said.

A nurse in the Neurological Intensive Care Unit at Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga, TN, Hasting's first experience getting published was during her freshman year of high school. She entered an independent poetry contest and her poem was chosen to be published. "My second experience being published was in my senior year of high school where we were assigned to enter the Daughters of the American Revolution annual contest. I wrote a short story that placed regionally in the competition."

Hasting became interested in the field of healthcare while taking a seventh grade life science class. But it was two family medical conditions that cemented her decision to choose nursing as a career. The first was her mother's high risk pregnancy when Hasting was just 10 years old.

"I remember how the nurses went out of their way to make sure I was calm and okay, even though it was scary and my mom required both platelet and blood transfusions and my brother had to be life flighted to another hospital. Those nurses essentially took me in…made sure I was okay, all while still giving my mom and brother the best possible care."

The second family health scare involved Hasting. She was 15 and very sick. Hasting didn't get a final diagnosis for her chronic health condition until she was 21. "My mom told me I needed to write about my health experience…being sick all the time, the tests, waiting years for the diagnosis, she said that I could help other people in the same situation.

"So many people told me I couldn't be a nurse...they questioned 'why or even how could a sick person take care of sick people?' I always felt that because of my experiences I would make a good nurse because I knew where my patients were coming from, and here I am today proving those people wrong," Hasting said.

While attending UAH, Hasting was involved in numerous leadership opportunities. She completed all four student leadership programs, Aspire, Empower, Impact, and Lead. "The freshman program, Aspire, really helped me out of my shell. I took on various on-campus jobs working as a resident assistant, desk assistant, and working for various university phonathons," she said. "Once I got into nursing school, I became heavily involved in UAH's chapter of the National Student Nurses' Association (NSNA), where I went on to become the secretary, and I also served as the president."

For more information about the Alumni Author Spotlight event, please call 256.824.2586. Both books will be available for purchase and 10 percent of sales will be donated to the UAH Alumni Association Endowed Scholarship.