Quiana Reese

Personal Essay

Growing up as an only child in Cleveland, Oh, I felt blessed and special to have both parents at home. My mother worked for Chrysler Corp as a welder and my father stayed home to take care of me. I had always thought I would be a doctor or a lawyer when I grew up. But later, I discovered I was more gifted at talking than at math, and that I didn’t actually have the patience to study law.At that time, I realized I should consider other options.

My adolescence came to an abrupt end during my junior year of high school.My mom died after a short battle with lung cancer.Life as I had known it was going to be very different going forward.I no longer had the option of being a kid. I had to grow up fast. I decided to attend the University of Cincinnati since it was as far from home as I could get, while still paying in-state tuition.I loved it there!!!I joined Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc, and made lifetime memories.I decided to use my gift of talking and graduated with a B.A. in communication.

Before graduating, I needed to complete 2 internships.I worked in the Human Resources department at a small staffing company and a large insurance company.HR was everything I had hoped for, as it allowed me to flourish and absorb as much as possibly during those internship opportunities.I found that I was able to combine my love for talking with my love for helping people, guiding them to pursue their passions. After graduation, I returned home to Cleveland and enrolled in the Masters of Human Resources and Labor Relations Program at Cleveland State University.

While at school, I learned that my degree and ongoing class work enabled me to meet the criteria for applying for the Co-op program at NASA Glenn.Having lived in Cleveland all my life and being an avid traveler, I am ashamed to admit that I didn’t realize there was a NASA in Cleveland. Adjacent to the airport no less.And while I knew abstractly that NASA launched rockets and explored space, it never occurred to me that there would be a connection between NASA and Human Resources. And I certainly never imagined that NASA would have a thriving Human Resources department.I accepted that Co-op position and ten years later I am still loving the work and the challenges of working for the government.

NASA has been a fantastic journey and I’ve been afforded the opportunity to follow my evolving interests.Many twists and turns have led me to several different organizations outside of Human Resources, including Strategic Management, Occupational Health and Safety, and most recently with the Office of the CIO.Today I am pursuing my latest passion for project management – applying my degree in communication, my years of experience and love for helping people, and certainly more than a little Psychology to a number of IT Projects at the Glenn Research Center.

Biography

Quiana Reese was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, but admits to not knowing that there was a NASA facility in Cleveland, located right next to the airport which she had frequented often. The opportunity to have a career at NASA Glenn has allowed her to remain grounded and connected with her family and friends still in Cleveland. For her undergraduate degree, she decided to major in Communications because her love for interacting with and helping people was so strong.But what she didn’t know is that it would also propel her into a career at NASA, providing many opportunities to feed her passion of working with people. She began her career at NASA as a Co-op in the Office of Human Capital Management while pursuing her Master’s degree in Labor Relations and Human Resources at Cleveland State University.She worked in classification and staffing, assisting supervisors and managers to create Position Descriptions and, ultimately, finding the right match for the job. Her career has led her down many paths and provided many opportunities tointeract with people at all levels within Glenn, which has proven extremely beneficial and allowed her to pursue and succeed in her latest career path of project management. She currently serves as an IT Project Manager in the Office of the CIO. In this role, she is not only able to fulfill her need to interact with people, but through her knowledge and guidanceis able to engage them in successfully completing their project on time, on budget, and within the confines of their available resources.She has also served as an HR Specialist, Administrative Officer, and a Safety and Occupational Health Specialist. She is the mother of 2 precious little girls who every day inspire her to continue to grow, learn, and find ways to enrich their lives through her own life. She hopes to serve as a positive role model for young women and girls as a professional in the workforce, and as a wife and mother whose values lead a daily charge to succeed.