Believe in Yourself

By Estephanie Ponce Staff Writer

There has never been a success story without challenges. In order to achieve success there will likely be failures, bumps, and a lot of pressure. Janet Yarrow, a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, who is currently a professor at Housatonic, for example, faced many obstacles before arriving at her profession. Her story begins as a discouraged 7th grader in Biology class. Each time that she stepped foot into Biology class, she knew she felt stressed. Asking the teacher for help felt impossible due to the lack of support he failed to provide. She worked hard in this class but in the end she did not earn the grade she hoped for. This experience gave her a bad taste for any science class going forward. After graduating high school, she then continued her studies at her university, where she went for her undergrad in Psychology. By the end, there were only six credits to complete her degree but because she grew unsure of her decision of becoming a psychology major, Yarrow dropped out. She continued her life’s journey by moving to England. This is where she married her husband and worked in two separate fields, but did not enjoy them at all, remaining unsatisfied. She made her decision to return to the US and to finish her studies in Psychology. With each day, she worked and studied hard to complete her major. Then came the moment that she finished, got her degree, and finally majored in psychology. But still, something didn’t feel right. Every moment after felt like she wasn’t where she was supposed to be and it didn’t sit right within her. Thoughts began to stir in her mind about what she was really supposed to be doing, searching for her true potential. Her mind soon returned to her original plan knowing she was absolutely sure that becoming a nutritionist is what her life’s calling was.

Janet returned to college again, but this time it was different. There was a plan, and it was a concrete plan with a determined attitude that would flip her life around to do what she loved. To become a registered dietitian nutritionist, it took her 20 years to complete, but nothing during that time could stop her from achieving this. Soaring through all her science classes she received all A’s and found that she loved them. Not only was Janet working hard to become an RDN at her return of school but was learning on how to become a mother. The birth of her child made it necessary to find aid from a babysitter while still working towards her degree. Then a few years later was pregnant with her second child. Being a mother of two may have brought on more responsibility, but it did not stop her from reaching her goals, it fueled her.

Success isn’t linear. Read about someone and their challenging story before reaching their achievement. Photo by Timothy Chan on Unsplash

After completing her bachelors and masters degree in human nutrition, including a six-month internship, she can call herself an Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and has happily been doing that for the past 20 years. Now, she helps students who are interested in going in her same direction and navigating them through to reach their success.

No one ever knows what their future holds, the only thing that we can do is work hard and believe in ourselves that we can reach our goals, even if that means giving Biology class a second chance.